


The Bonding at Baskerville

by MsGeorgie



Series: Baker Street Bonding [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alpha Sherlock, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Baskerville - Freeform, Case Fic, Implied Mystrade, Jealous Sherlock, M/M, Mpreg, Omega John, Possessive Sherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-23 06:29:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsGeorgie/pseuds/MsGeorgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poor Henry Knight has come to Sherlock and John for help and what else is a bored Sherlock to do but take the case. Unfortunately John's heat is close and Sherlock wants nothing to with it. What ever shall our favourite blogger do?</p><p> ***Updated***</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: The Rules are Wrong!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks, been a while right ^^' yeah sorry about that but stuffs been going on and times been an issue but look I'm back and stuff :D 
> 
> So in honour of me finally writing the next part of this series I’ve actually gone through this and tweaked it a bit. Sometimes sorting out my own mistakes and sometimes adding bits here and there, either way it’s still the same story just a little… remastered shall we say ^^ 
> 
> Thank you to every single person who has supported this fic with comments and kudos and of course if you’re new to this then welcome  I hope you all enjoy this either way.
> 
> Oh a P.s still don’t own Sherlock ;)

It was a very rare occurrence for there not to be any cases on these days at 221B thanks to the rising popularity of John’s blog, meaning that usually poor John didn’t get a lot of sleep or food in between the running around London chasing leads and criminals. However over the past few weeks there seemed to be a sudden drought of cases, almost as if the London criminal classes had decided to take a little holiday from being foiled by the dynamic duo of Dr. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock was obviously very displeased with the situation and because of his rising boredom and dwindling patience, his inner Alpha was becoming very agitated which of course lead to more bullet holes in the wall and a few extra nasty surprises hidden around the kitchen for poor, unsuspecting, jam loving flat mates to come across much to their horror and displeasure.

John on the other hand was overjoyed with the momentary peace that had befell him, now don’t misunderstand the situation, the Omega could never deny how much he loved his and Sherlock’s adrenaline fuelled life but sometimes he could really go for a lie in and a Full English in the morning so that’s what he did for the better part of three weeks, it was such a shame that today was the day his lovely peace would finally end, beginning with a text.

　

*** _Ching_!***

　

John groaned and snuffled into his pillow when he heard the high pitched chime coming from his phone, for a moment he contemplated just ignoring it and going back to sleep but after some considerable time thinking about it, decided against that option since it hadn’t paid off for him thus far in life so he reached over blindly and grabbed his mobile off of the bedside table. It took another moment before the lazy Omega bothered to open his eyes and lift his head from where he’d buried it in the pillow to read the text that woke him up.

  
  
 **_On a case, nothing interesting so I can manage alone, be back by lunch. Took the harpoon. We need milk – SH_ **

  
" _Again_ with the bloody milk?!" John groaned and rolled onto his back before replying.

  
  
 **_If you want milk then get it yourself since you’re the one who’s out! - J_ **

  
  
There was no reply which either meant Sherlock was ignoring him or was too zoned into his case that he didn't notice the reply. It was only 7:45AM and John could’ve cried, he was so used to waking up after ten these days that quarter to eight seemed more like three in the morning, still if Sherlock was out on a case then that gave John plenty of time to shower and have breakfast in peace for a change without Sherlock having an Alpha temper tantrum ‘til John paid attention to his moaning, he only hoped the jam wasn't poisoned... again.

John ruffled his hair and swung his legs over the side of the bed to sit for a moment before jumping up and heading for the shower, making sure not to take too long as he didn’t know how much quiet time he had before Sherlock came charging in again to either drag John off on this case or continue his moaning. After showering and getting dressed save for his trademark jumper John headed downstairs to the kitchen whilst trying to decide what to have for breakfast.

What he couldn’t of known though was that Sherlock had be particularly bored during the night and had decided to pop down to Bart’s earlier that morning to get some knew experimental test subjects from Molly and in all the excitement of finally having a case, had forgotten to re-refrigerate the particular subject he was working on. That was why when John walked into the kitchen still contemplating breakfast he barely managed to hold back the manly yelp rising in his throat.

  
"Oh! For the love of…!" It was a Foot. There was a foot on the table. A bloody foot! A bloody male foot on the table… and the toes were missing.  
  
There goes his appetite.  
  
"Suppose I'll just leave breakfast then." John sighed and instead clicked the kettle, after making sure there were no toes floating inside of course and avoided looking at the disgusting body part on the table, even when attached feet gave John the Heebie Jeebies so a dismembered one without any toes was just very... _off-putting_.

John just focused on making his tea, minus the milk, and made a note to get some fresh shopping later before he shuffled into the living room to see if Sherlock had got today’s newspapers. He was pleasantly surprised to see that all three of his favourite papers were sitting on the arm of his chair ready and waiting for him to plop down and read them, seeing this, John had a moment of weakness thinking how thoughtful the tall Alpha was before he caught and pulled himself back from the instinct driven train if thought.

He reminded himself that his heat was due in the next week so it wasn't uncommon for him to have these kind of thoughts, still it wasn't practical to have them about Mr _'Married to his work'_ who ' _Can't be arsed with Alpha/Omega biology_ ', John was sure that Sherlock was the only Alpha in history who was disgusted by an Omega in heat and balked at the idea of a week-long sex marathon with one.

 

*** _Ching_!***

　

"Speak of the Devil..." John sighed and pulled his mobile from his trouser pocket.

　

_**Boring. Tedious. Dead pig. Done. On my way back, might be a bit longer than normal. Had to take the tube. -SH** _

_**Ok, why the tube? In fact don't bother I'm sure I'll find out when you get home. See you soon – J** _

　

It was 9:15AM; A case that only took half an hour to solve was never a good sign, John sighed and mourned for the peace and quiet he never got to enjoy and started hunting for Sherlock's secret pack of cigarettes that he knew the detective kept for when he was going through a dry spell with cases like he had been lately. It was a little amusing for John to watch Sherlock being so stupid for once, thinking that he was so careful and that John hadn’t noticed when he’d been sneaking a ciggy here and there when he thought John wasn’t looking.

It took a little bit of time but John found them taped to the roof of one of the desk drawers and planted them under the Skull before _finally_ sitting down to read the papers and drink his tea. He was actually a little impressed with himself, it only took him twenty minutes to find them this time; maybe today was the day his luck was changing.

　

*** _Bang_!***

　

"That'll be him home then." John mumbled to himself and flicked the page of the paper he was reading, ignoring Sherlock when he strode in and thumped the harpoon on the floor.

"Well that was _tedious_." When the detective didn't move away, John looked up and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Sherlock was covered head to toe in blood, after a subtle sniff to make sure that none of the blood was Sherlock’s own he asked the only question that seemed to come to mind at that point.

"You went on the tube like _that_?" Sherlock sneered at him.

"None of the cabs would take me." He replied and then dashed off to wash up, leaving poor John gaping at where his flatmate stood seconds earlier.

So much for his changing luck theory

_////_

After getting cleaned up and wiping down his harpoon, Sherlock came striding back into the living room and started his pacing up and down routine again, a routine that had become a very common sight in the past weeks. John sighed and kept reading his paper, thinking that if he focused enough on the words in front of him then he might just manage to get through the impending tantrum.

"Nothing?" Sherlock asked and John knew immediately what he was asking, of course Sherlock would assume that the reason John was reading the paper was to look for possible cases for Sherlock and not just because John wanted to read the paper, still, John started flicking through the papers for anything interesting for the detective.

"Military coup in Uganda?"

"Mm." Was Sherlock’s response so John flicked again.

"Mm, another photo of you in the..." Sherlock groaned whilst John smirked.

"Cabinet reshuffle?" John teased and Sherlock growled.

"Nothing of importance?! _OH GOD_!!" He yelled and slammed the harpoon against the carpet to emphasize his frustration and making John wince from the noise before he looked down at the Omega and pulled his shoulders back to take on a dominating, Alpha stance.

"John I need some, get me some." He ordered and John shivered inside at the order but resisted complying, it wasn’t easy for most Omegas to resist a direct order from an Alpha but John had years of practice and a military career behind him so he was used denying Alphas.

"No." He said and Sherlock snarled at him, Alpha pride bruised at the Omega's disobedience and all of a sudden Sherlock's biological instincts were telling him to flip his John on his belly and sink his teeth into that tender skin at the back of the neck to assert his dominance, but John wasn't _his_ Omega and Sherlock was better than his base instincts so he pushed that feeling away and tried a different route.

"Get me some." He snarled again but John held his ground and in fact made a counter argument against the Alpha’s demand, making Sherlock have to work just that little bit harder to supress his instinct to dominate.

"NO! Cold turkey, we agreed no matter what. Anyway you paid everyone off remember? No one in a two mile radius will sell you any." Sherlock growled again but finally huffed in partial defeat, he hated it when John was right, true it wasn't often but he still hated it.

"Stupid idea, who's idea was that anyway?" John cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Sherlock who just narrowed his eyes.

"MRS. HUDSON!!" He called and then started tearing through the files on his desk and raking through drawers all whilst pleading with John who remained unmoving in his chair.

"Tell me where they are, please tell me... please." He looked at John with a wounded puppy dog look and John once again had to resist his instinct to cater to his Alpha's needs, this time with a bit more challenge. God his heat must be closer than he thought.

"Can't help, sorry." He gave Sherlock a look that said he really wasn't though but it changed to expectant when he saw Sherlock suddenly straighten up a bit with an idea clearly forming in his genius brain.

"I'll let you know next week’s lottery numbers." He said smugly and John chuckled at him, as if he would fall for that... again, Sherlock huffed at him, so much for that genius brains great idea.

"Uh, it was worth a try." Then he dove to the fire place and started ripping things up, desperately trying to find his secret pack of cigarettes, they should've been in his desk but they had mysteriously vanished and there was no way John could have found them so that only left...

"Oooh Oooh!" Mrs. Hudson called as she walked in, Sherlock ignored her greeting and just got straight to the point.

"Secret supply? What've you done with my secret supply?!" He asked her frantically and she looked at John confused.

"Eh?"

"Cigarettes? What've you done with them? Where are they?" He asked impatiently as he continued to rummage around the fire place.

"You know you never let me touch your things. Oh! Chance'd be a fine thing." She snorted and Sherlock turned to her, glaring and barely supressing a growl.

"I thought you weren't my house keeper?" He sniped and Mrs. Hudson gave him a firm look.

"I'm not." She replied and Sherlock snarled and jumped up to grab his harpoon again, Mrs. Hudson looked back to John for help and he gestured she suggest a cup of tea.

"How about a nice cuppa and perhaps you could put away your harpoon?" She asked kindly but Sherlock just mumbled something about 7% before whirling around to point his harpoon at Mrs. Hudson making her jump and then started deducing her morning she shared in the company of Mr. Chatterjee, making the old Alpha uncomfortable.

"I wouldn't pin your hopes on that cruise with Mr. Chatterjee. He's got a wife in Doncaster that nobody knows about, well nobody except me." He finished smugly.

"Sherlock!" John called out angrily and took back what he thought earlier, how Sherlock could be a good and thoughtful provider when he acted like such a child if he didn't get his way was just a ridiculous thought.

"I don't know what you’re talking about, I really don't." Mrs. Hudson whimpered and ran out, Sherlock just jumped on his chair and sat with his knees pressed to his chest, John slammed down his paper and leaned forward to try and be as menacing as possible.

"What the bloody hell was all that about?" He asked but Sherlock just started rocking back and forth restlessly.

"You don't understand." John narrowed his eyes, he really couldn’t be arsed with Sherlock’s crap today.

"Go after her and apologise." John ordered but Sherlock just looked up at John like he'd just grown an extra head.

"Apologise?" He asked like it offended him.

"Mmhm." John nodded and Sherlock sighed as if John was a child that couldn’t comprehend something simple.

"Oh John, your Omega mind is just so envious."

"Envious?" John asked sarcastically and leaned back in his chair, this he had to hear.

"Yes it's so simple, submissive, desperate to please any Alpha's like Mrs Hudson and I, hardly used for anything really challenging; mine is dominant and sharp, like a rocket tearing itself to pieces, stuck on a launch pad. I NEED A CASE!!" He screamed at last and John had reached the end of his patience.

"YOU JUST SOLVED ONE BY HARPOOING A DEAD PIG!" John screamed back, though to be honest he still hadn't gotten the full story on that yet but he did get the gist… he hoped.

"Arg! That was this morning, when's the next one?" Sherlock flipped his legs down and started stomping his feet off the floor making John cringe.

"Nothing on the website?" He asked tersely and Sherlock jumped up to show him the adorable e-mail he'd gotten from little Kristy about poor missing Bluebell the rabbit, John was so caught up in reading the cute plea for help that he didn't really hear everything that Sherlock was saying.

"... Then the next morning Bluebell was gone! Hutch still locked, no sign of forced entry...Ah! What am I saying? This is brilliant, phone Lestrade, tell him there's an escaped rabbit." John looked at Sherlock like he'd finally gone mad and to be honest there was a good chance that was true.

"Are you serious?" Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"It's _this_ or Cluedo." John's heart stopped. Not Cluedo. Not again. John slammed the laptop shut and stood up to put it on the desk.

"Ah no! We are _never_ playing that again." He stated firmly, Sherlock gave him a questioning look.

"Why not?" John walked back to his chair exasperated.

"Because it's not actually possible for the victim to have done it Sherlock."

"Well, it was the only possible solution."

"It's not in the rules!"

"Well then the _rules_ are wrong!"

　

*** _BUZZZ_ ***

　

They both stopped and looked up excited.

"Single ring" John stated.

"Maximum pressure just under the half second." Sherlock agreed.

" _Client_." They both chirped and Sherlock dashed off to his bedroom to change out of his dressing gown.

"Well John don't just sit there, answer the door." John groaned and jumped up, this was going to be a long day, he could tell.


	2. Coming or Going?

Sherlock was bored already, he was expecting something exciting when the doorbell rang! Not some posh, deluded, country boy Omega, who had clearly just finished a heat two days prior and was still experiencing hormonal imbalances, to come in to his flat and insist that he watch a stupid documentary about local superstition and a military base in the sticks. Sherlock could very clearly see that this man truly believed that he _had_ seen a monster twenty years ago and Sherlock knew that _something_ must've happened to his father but it was clear there was nothing truly interesting here, just some delusion dreamt up by a child that had stuck his brain and carried on into adulthood.

The only reason that Henry was still sitting here was John insisting that Sherlock hear him out and if Sherlock refused then John would be upset, Sherlock hated it when John was upset though he didn't quite understand why. He supposed it must be a friend thing, Sherlock frowned and realized he had drifted off into his mind as an escape from this tedium and grabbed the TV remote, John and Henry were fixated on the television so they didn't notice until Sherlock clicked it off.

"What did you see?" Sherlock asked bored and Henry shifted nervous of the Alpha speaking to him, God what was it about Omegas and nervousness? Molly was the same and it irritated Sherlock to no end, this was why he never bothered with them, honestly who would want a simpering pile of submissive boredom catering to there every whim without question or challenge? John was Omega and _he_ wasn't like that, though Sherlock did wonder why sometimes.

"Oh... I... I was just about to say." Henry murmured pointing to the television and drawing Sherlock from his thoughts once again.

"Yes in a TV Interview, I prefer to do my own editing." He replied still in a bored tone and Henry smiled shyly and shifted again.

"Yes, sorry, yes, excuse me." He said before blowing his nose on the train napkin he had clutched in his hand. Sherlock saw John smile from the corner of his eye and his face relaxed from the slightly irritated expression it had been displaying.

"In your own time." John said kindly and Sherlock raised an eyebrow and chipped in.

"But quite quickly." Henry lowered his napkin and started his inane story about the 'Devil' tearing his father apart and where John looked at him concerned and confused all at the same time, which was endearing really, Sherlock remained sceptical and indifferent.

"Hmm. Red eyes, coal-black fur, enormous: Dog? Wolf?" He asked seriously and Sherlock snorted.

"Or a genetic experiment?" He teased and looked away hiding his amusement, clearly not well enough though as Henry still saw it and took on a hurt look.

"Are you laughing at me Mr Holmes?" He asked and swallowed, Sherlock looked back at him and smirked, raising his eyebrows.

"Why, are you joking?" That set the Omega off, now he was trying to draw out Sherlock’s protective Alpha instincts by bringing up his deceased father and not trying to hide any upset or control his hormones indicating distress, it made Sherlock want to throw up at such a pathetic display.

"Henry, whatever did happen to your father it was twenty years ago, why come to us now?" John voiced trying to ease the situation but it was no use, Henry wasn't listening.

"I'm not sure you can help me Mr Holmes since you find it all so _funny_." Henry snarled and got up to leave, Sherlock narrowed his eyes at him, the ignorant bastard, how dare he ignore John, it was a valid question.

"Because of what happened last night." Sherlock answered John who tilted his head to the side.

"Why? What happened last night?" Henry spun around to look at Sherlock.

"How... How did you know?" He asked stunned and Sherlock smugly raised his chin.

"I didn't know, I noticed." Then he started rattling off his deductions to the startled man who was now sitting back down, John tried to stop Sherlock from showing off but was unsuccessful and despite the fact that he tried to stop Sherlock, John still look amazed when Sherlock had finished, Henry did _too_ but he wasn't important, only John was and Sherlock preened under the impressed gaze. The idiot sitting across from him must have assumed Sherlock's pleased air was due to his own appraising stare and tilted his head instinctively to show his clean neck, devoid of a bonding bite. Sherlock just rolled his eyes again.

"What did you see?" Sherlock asked impatiently when Henry started prattling again.

"Footprints. On the exact spot my father was torn apart." Sherlock huffed exasperated and sat back in his seat and here he thought there may have been something a little bit interesting.

"Mans or women’s?" John asked interested.

"Neither, they were-" Sherlock interrupted him, he wanted this idiot out of his flat now.

"Is that it? Nothing else? Footprints. That's all?" Henry looked distressed and tried to appeal.

"Yes but they were-." Sherlock was having none of it though and just dismissed him before standing up to head into his room to retrieve his dressing gown that he had needlessly abandoned for this pointless exercise.

"Mr Holmes they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" Henry called desperately and Sherlock stopped dead in his tracks, something about the way he said that was just.... Sherlock stalked back over to Henry who had his full attention now.

"Say that again." Henry looked relieved.

"I found the footprints; they were-" 

"No, no, no, your exact words, repeat you exact words form a moment ago, exactly as you said them." Sherlock said impatiently.

"Mr Holmes, they were the footprints, of a, gigantic hound." Henry repeated slowly and Sherlock brought his hands to his face in prayer stance.

"I'll take the case." He said and John's head shot up.

"Sorry what?" The blonde asked confused but went ignored.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It's very promising." That was the moment John lost his temper a little bit, he hated it when Sherlock was like this.

"No, No, No, sorry _what_? A minute ago footprints were boring, now they're very promising?" Sherlock gave John _'The Look'_ , God did he hate that face sometimes, and rolled his eyes at the baffled Omega.

"It's nothing to do with footprints. As ever, John, you weren't listening. Baskerville: Ever heard of it?" Sherlock asked and John pouted a little at the change of subject, Sherlock had to hold back the smile that was threatening to break free at the cuteness of the whole affair. My, my, wasn't he just full of John related responses today, how _curious_.

"Vaguely. It's all very hush hush." John decided and nervously tapped his pen against the pad he was writing on, Sherlock asking about a top secret military army base was bound to make anyone nervous after all.

"Sounds like a good place to start." The detective confirmed John's fears and bit back a chuckle at the _'woe is me'_ expression in John's eyes, he'd almost forgotten Henry sitting behind him. Almost.

"Ah! You'll come down then?" The young man asked excited and Sherlock felt like having a little bit of fun with his blogger and finally getting to the bottom of his earlier desperation.

"No, I can't leave London at the moment. Far too busy. Don't worry, I'm putting my best man on to it." Sherlock said seriously and then strode over to John patting him on the shoulder.

"Always rely on John to send me the relevant data, as he never understands a word of it himself." Sherlock smirked and nearly rubbed his hands together in glee as John started to panic and get defensive.

"What are you talking about, you’re busy? You don't have a case! A minute ago you were complaining-" John started frantically, he really didn't want to have to run down to bloody Devon all on his own, especially with a heat so close but Sherlock interrupted him smugly.

"Bluebell, John! I've got Bluebell, The case of the vanishing, glow-in-the-dark rabbit! NATO's in uproar." He directed the last part at Henry who just looked between them both confused.

"Oh, sorry, so you're not coming then?" He asked trying to understand the situation, Sherlock took this opportunity to pointedly direct an over exaggerated, put upon pout towards John, the bastard. It took John a second before it dawned on him what Sherlock was doing and he sighed.

"Okay...okay..." John stood to face the smug Alpha smiling at him, then proceeded to retrieve the hidden cigarettes from under the skull and toss them to the prat, who just tossed them over his Shoulder.

"I don't need those anymore. I'm going to Dartmoor." He said victoriously and then started to head out of the living room to pack some overnight things, this shouldn't take more than two, three day's tops.

"You go on ahead Henry, we'll follow later." He instructed to the man behind him who was even more confused than before and looking up at the door the detective just left through and scrambling to his feet.

"Er, sorry, so you _are_ coming down then?" He asked completely baffled and Sherlock strode back in for a moment, excited.

"Twenty year old disappearance? A monstrous hound? I wouldn't miss this for the world." He confirmed and then strode back out of the room quickly. John stood gaping at the door, he'd been had, now Sherlock knew he'd have to think up a new hiding place for the cigarettes, one that John wouldn't find so easily. Not to mention, bloody _Dartmoor_? _Really_?

"Uh. Sorry but is he always like that?" Henry asked as he finished up the cigarette he'd been smoking since he’d sat back down after Sherlock's deduction of his morning, John's head flew around startled, he'd forgotten Henry was there.

"Yeah, pretty much. Listen it's going to take us a while to get packed so you should listen to Sherlock and just head off now, we'll nip in later when we arrive and get settled in Dartmoor. I'll see you out." John confirmed and Henry nodded and made his way to the door followed closely by John.

"If you don't mind me asking, John, but you're an Omega like me, yes?" Henry questioned, looking over his shoulder at the doctor whose eyes flicked to Henry's and he nodded tersely, he had a felling he knew where this was going.

"I see, and Mr. Holmes is an Alpha. I knew that the moment I walked into this place, how can you both cohabit so easily without, uh, well _you know_. Do you have some sort of an arrangement?" Henry asked blushing and John just cleared his throat and pulled open the front door giving a short answer.

"Not that it’s your business Henry, no offence but Sherlock, doesn't do, _anything_." Henry apologised for his forwardness, recommended a B &B in Dartmoor called _'The Cross Keys'_ and left. When the door closed behind him John shut his eyes and took in deep breath, Henry's little question, appropriate or not, reminded him of a small flaw in Sherlock's little jaunt to Devon. John was due a heat in the next week and that could happen when they were in Dartmoor, where John couldn't just pick-up and take a thirty minute cab drive to Harry's.

 _Oh God_! He was _so_ looking forward to this conversation.


	3. Haven't You Noticed?

John was deep in thought as he climbed the stairs back up into the flat, ever since he had moved in to 221B, Sherlock had told him he didn't want to know anything about his ' _biological inconvenience_ ' so John had promised never mentioned it. Whenever it was time for his heat, he would call up Harry to make arrangements to stay at hers for a few days or spend it with whatever Girlfriend/Boyfriend he had at the time, then he'd tell Sherlock he'd be gone for a week and Sherlock would rarely notice he was gone. It was the perfect routine.

This was strangely enough the first time a case would interfere with his cycle and he honestly didn't know what to do. On the one hand if he joins Sherlock in Dartmoor, they could get it done and be back home by tomorrow without incident. It was very unlikely that he would go into heat in the next 24 hours, well unless he was under an unnecessary amount of stress or really upset.

However on the other hand, his heat was close and he could feel his body preparing for the days he would be lost to his instincts, not to mention his hormone levels were changing and fluctuating at this stage so he was emitting a scent to draw in Alphas. That could only mean that his heat could come at any time in the next five days and if he and Sherlock didn't get this case solved quickly and without incident well... _disaster_.

"JOHN! WHERE ARE YOU?" Sherlock called from his the living room, frightening the life out of John who was just outside the door.

"I'm here! Jesus, did you have to shout so loudly?" He grumbled but Sherlock just ignored him.

"Where is my purple dress shirt? I've looked everywhere for it and I can't find it." Sherlock asked irritated and John raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Why do you want that shirt specifically? It's in your wardrobe, Mrs Hudson ironed it yesterday." Sherlock just snapped his fingers and shot off towards his bedroom again, John counted to three before Sherlock came sliding back in.

"Ok, I've looked there twice now and I can't see it! So ... Where is it John?" Sherlock growled and John smirked, happy to notice something that Sherlock didn’t for a change and strode lazily over to the open wardrobe in Sherlock’s bedroom. Sherlock wasn't far behind and appeared just in time to see John pull out the folded, purple Shirt from the shelf at the bottom.

"Oh! Who folds up a shirt after ironing it anyway?!" Sherlock sniffed defensively and went to snatch the shirt from John's hands but somehow his body rebelled and he ended up gently removing it from John's hands and bending forward to nuzzle at the side of the Omega's face, taking in his scent and thanking his good little Omega for caring for his big, strong, Alpha as nature intended.

Once he realized what he was doing however, Sherlock jumped back and cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with John and instead turned to pack away the shirt he was still holding, John sighed sadly behind him, he had been enjoying that but he knew it wasn’t right to give in to is Omega nature and he really had to let Sherlock know what was going on.

"Hmm. Yes we need to have a little chat about that." John drawled, a little amused at the Alpha's display of affection and Sherlock stopped moving to look over his shoulder.

"About what?" He asked, eyes narrowed, challenging.

"Sherlock, around this time of the month, do you notice anything strange about me?" John asked slowly and Sherlock frowned and thought.

"No, of course not. What's that got to do with... that _thing_ that just happened?" John just looked at him.

"Really? You can't think of one recurring scenario that happens to me on a monthly basis?" He asked sceptically.

"No, I can't. Now will you just tell me what's going on so we can finish packing and maybe if we're lucky we'll catch the train that leaves in an hour?" Sherlock snapped, John's instincts told him to back off from the irritated Alpha and this time John did what he was told and took two steps back. Sherlock's own instincts were telling him that this was bad, wrong and unnatural, that he should apologise and comfort his distressed Omega; he resisted. AND FOR THE LAST TIME JOHN WAS NOT _HIS_!

"It's my heat Sherlock!" Sherlock's eyes went wide in shock at John’s exclamation and dove over the bed so it was firmly between him and the Doctor, John would’ve laughed if it wasn't so insulting.

"I knew something wasn't right! I've been feeling strange all morning! Why didn't you tell me it was your time?! When did it start?!" Sherlock yelled with a disgusted look on his face, John tried hard not to show his hurt at the look, he told himself it was just the hormones and not the fact that his best friend found a part of him, something he couldn’t control, disgusting.

"Firstly it _hasn't_ started yet, if it had started then you wouldn't have been able to take a flying leap across the bed and insult me! Secondly you've been feeling strange because my body is preparing itself for heat and that puts a change in my scent that you have unconsciously, as an Alpha, picked up on; that means that your body is preparing itself for my heat and your instincts are telling you to look after me and lastly I didn't tell you because I didn't know we would be taking a merry jaunt to bloody Devon!" John screamed, anger taking over from hurt with every word, bloody hormones, bloody Sherlock!

"Why haven't I noticed these effects before?" Sherlock asked embarrassed, he hadn't meant to upset John, really he hadn't. He just hated all this Alpha/Omega biology shit.

"That's because I usually piss off to Harry's or to whomever’s I'd been dating at the time, for a week to run through my heat so as not to bother you with it and since you’ve never noticed I suppose it worked out quite nicely." John sighed, he was already fed up with this conversation so when he saw Sherlock start to open his mouth and held up a hand.

"Look, as long as we solve this case quickly and get back home, I'll still be able to call ‘round Harry's, well actually... I may head to Sarah's this month since my last three heats I’ve been on my own and I'm gagging for it to be honest." John's eyes got a little glassy there at the thought of spending his heat with a real Alpha, even if it was only Sarah. Sherlock noticed the change in John’s scent and pupil dilation and growled under his breath, the possessive sound brought John out of his little hormone induced fantasy and he shrugged apologetically at Sherlock.

"Anyway like I was saying, my heat is due sometime in the next five days and I only just noticed the symptoms this morning so we do have some time. I normally don't do this until my heat officially starts but I'll take some birth control, that should rein in the hormonal fluctuations in my scent that are messing with your head and then I'll get packed okay?" Sherlock shifted around the bed warily.

"Will that stop me from reacting to this, _thing_." John winced slightly at the harsh tone, which Sherlock noticed and was about to comment on but John interrupted him.

"I'm not sure, it should in theory prevent you from reacting further but since your body’s already been exposed to the scent, I don't know. I'm going upstairs to pack, I'll meet you outside, just leave your bag at the door and I'll grab it with my own on the way out." John said quickly and turned to go upstairs.

"John-" Sherlock began.

"No, not now, okay." John murmured and left quickly. Sherlock groaned and sat down on the bed, he hadn't meant to hurt John, he really didn't but he wasn't used to ' _hormonal John_ ' in fact from what John just told him he hasn't even met ' _hormonal John_ ' before... but lots of _other_ people have.

Another possessive growl escaped Sherlock's throat and he cursed his stupid biology, this was another reason he hated Mycroft, why did that tubby arse get to be a Beta whilst Sherlock was born Alpha. Uh! He hated everything... except John, John was nice. Whether he was in heat or not, perhaps Sherlock should tell him that sometime, it might make him happy.

"God, I sound like an idiot." Sherlock growled at himself and then stood up to finish his packing so he could get outside to hail a cab.

////

It only took John fifteen minutes to do his packing, it was rather soothing actually, the repetitive motions of folding clothes helping to calm him down and make him realize he’d been acting like a 50 year old woman. It wasn’t Sherlock’s fault that John was so sensitive, the poor Alpha had never dealt with an Omega on the verge of heat before and he had no desire to either, John couldn’t stay upset over that.

He had just pulled a jumper over his red button up and was reaching for his jacket when he remembered to take the birth control pill. He took a pack from his bedside table and popped one out to swallow, slipping the rest of the pack into his jacket pocket, he'd need those if he was going to Sarah's when he got back anyway. As a doctor John found that Omega birth control was severely lacking, it would only be effective against pregnancy if you took it right as you were going into heat, that's why John always kept a pack of condoms next to the pills, you could never be too careful.

John looked up when he heard the front door open, Sherlock must’ve finished his packing which meant John had better hurry since Sherlock never had any trouble hailing a cab with his magic arm and most London cab drivers hated waiting. After one last check to make sure John had grabbed everything he would need for the week, he quickly snatched up his bag and started jogging down the stairs, noticing that Sherlock had left his bag at the bottom of the stairs just as he had asked so John could grab it on his way out, which he did as he strode out the door of 221B.

He was about to greet Sherlock when he heard shouting coming from inside the sandwich shop and glanced over just in time to see Mrs. Hudson launch a loaf of fresh, baked bread over Mr. Chatterjee's head to crash against the glass door, making it shake with the force.

"Oh! Looks like Mrs. Hudson finally got to the wife in Doncaster." John said to Sherlock who had been watching the fight with amusement, when he was sure John’s eyes were still locked on the shouting match inside, he glanced over out the corner of his eye at John, the man didn't seem upset anymore so Sherlock decided to not mention the situation from upstairs and just get on with things.

"Mmm. Wait 'til she finds out about the one in Islamabad." He drawled and John snickered and got in the taxi with their bags, closely followed by Sherlock.

"Paddington Station, please." He said to the driver and off they went to catch a hound.


	4. So Awkward

" _God_! That was a nightmare Sherlock! This is why I hate traveling by train, it took bloody ages and now I’ve got an arse like a pancake!" John snapped at his chuckling flatmate as they walked out of the station together.

"Don’t be silly John, your arse is as perky as it normally is." Sherlock teased and chuckled when John growled at him and flipped him the V.

"Besides I know the real reason you hate train travel so much, it’s because you sister lost you on one when you were eight. They make you nervous, the longer the journey, the more nervous you get." Sherlock deduced correctly, if John’s sputtering was anything to go by.

"Should’ve known, you’d know… How do you know that by the way?" John pouted and Sherlock grinned at him.

"Yes. You should have and if you must know it was the way you kept tugging on your left pocket." John shook his head in amazement and giggled at him. Hah! There it was, Sherlock always prefers happy John to grumpy John, since it usually meant more fun for Sherlock in the long run.

"So where are we off to anyway? It’s still a ways to Dartmoor, shall we call a cab." John asked when they walked out onto the street, Sherlock just huffed and started walking towards the car park.

"No need, I hired a car before we left the flat. The gentleman should be waiting for us with the keys." John stopped dead in the middle of the pavement and stared at Sherlock’s back wide eyed. Now, John could drive but he hadn’t renewed his license since he’d returned from Afghanistan so he wasn’t legal to drive and if the amount of money spent on cabs was any indication Sherlock couldn’t drive at all so who the hell would be driving?

Sherlock hadn’t stopped when John did and he was too busy shaking hands with a man in front of a black 4x4 to notice John wasn't at his side. It wasn't until the man handed the detective the keys to the car that Sherlock noticed John had fallen behind so he turned to look over at him, exasperated.

"Come On!" He called over to John who rolled his eyes and jogged over.

"Sherlock? What are you doing?" He asked and Sherlock snorted and grabbed the bag that John had resting on his right shoulder, throwing it in the back of the car where he’d just tossed his own as John was making his way over.

"Putting the bags in the car, John. Really I thought that was obvious." He drawled smugly and John narrowed his eyes and gabbed his finger towards the detective.

"You know exactly what I’m talking about, Sherlock. Who the hell is going to be driving this car?" Sherlock tossed the keys in the air with one hand and caught them in the other with a grin whilst he made his way around to the driver’s side of the vehicle.

"I am." He stated matter of fact and got in, John nearly had a heart attack when the engine started up and jump into the passenger’s side, leaning over and turning off the ignition.

"What do you mean ‘I am’? You can’t even drive!" John yelled, pulling the keys out and shoving them in his pocket as he leaped back out of the car.

"Of course I can bloody drive!" Sherlock countered climbing back out after the Doctor and striding around to reach over and retrieve his keys but John twisted to the side to avoid the hand.

"Oh Yeah? Then where's your licence?" John prodded and Sherlock pulled back and looked away, clearing his throat.

"Okay so I don’t officially have a licence but I can drive John, I’m not stupid." The Alpha huffed and John scoffed, shaking his head.

"How can you possibly know how to drive but don’t have a licence?" He asked incredulously as he pulled back when Sherlock went to try and snatch the keys again.

"I’ve read all the books, John. Not to mention the fact I could practically build one if I so chose." The man snapped and once again made a lunge for the pocket his keys were being held hostage in.

"That’s not the bloody same, you idiot! You can’t drive a car by just reading a bloody book! It requires practical know how as well as theoretical!" John snarled and jumped back out of Sherlock’s reach.

"John, I’m losing my patience, give me the keys." John just narrowed his eyes and backed up some more, he wasn’t expecting the tall detective dive forward and grab him by the shoulders though so he wasn’t able to hold back an embarrassing squeak of shock at the force of Sherlock slamming him against the side of the car whilst growling into his face.

"Give me, the keys, John." He repeated slowly, Sherlock didn’t know what was wrong with him, he never acted so aggressively with such mundane arguments like this, all that he did know was that John was telling him ‘ _no_ ’ and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

"No!" John yelped again, struggling against Sherlock’s hold but no matter how much John twisted, kicked and clawed he couldn’t get free, Sherlock just flattened his body against John’s and growled louder. Since when was the skinny bastard so strong?! John and Sherlock had fought before but Sherlock was never nearly this strong so what the hell was going on? That was when Sherlock’s scent increased and a tingle spread through John’s muscles and he went boneless.

Oh no! Oh hell NO!

It was the heat; that’s what the difference was, John had read about this in medical journals but never actually experienced it himself. It wasn’t that Sherlock had gotten stronger, it was that John had gotten weaker, his body sensed that the Alpha pinning him was displeased and wanted submission, it didn’t matter that John’s brain was saying ‘ _Fucking No! Never in a million years_!’ and it didn’t matter that Sherlock probably didn’t realise what he was doing, this was just what happened to Alpha's and Omega's in and around heats; primal instinct just took over.

A pleased rumble by his ear brought John back from his internal panic and he kept absolutely still when Sherlock dropped his head and rubbed his cheek against John’s, ‘ _scent marking_ ’ John’s mind supplied, this is what an Alpha did to an Omega to mark his territory; this is what an Alpha did when he had chosen a mate. John’s panic was rising, he had to get Sherlock off him _now_! Before the man did something he would regret. Sherlock, sensing the Omega beneath him was distressed instinctively tried to soothe him by running his tongue along the underside of John’s jaw, unfortunately it had the opposite effect and John nearly jumped a foot in the air.

Sherlock frowned, that wasn’t right, his Omega should be leaning into him and bearing his neck in pleasure, not jumping away as if afraid of him. Sherlock tried again, this time nuzzling John’s neck and rubbing his shoulders but that was when he heard the jingle of keys falling on the ground. John had sneakily pulled the car keys from his pocket and dropped them. Sherlock’s grip slackened when he looked down to see what the noise was and John made use of the distraction by shoving the Alpha hard and jumping away, Sherlock snarled at the Omega’s disobedience, teeth bared and pupils blown wide and reading himself to pursue John again but stopped dead when John called his name.

"Sherlock." John said calmly in an attempt to not further anger the snarling Alpha and he saw the exact moment when Sherlock came back to himself and realised what he’d done. The dark haired man swallowed and turned away from John, dropping forward momentarily to grab the keys off the ground.

"I thought you said that if you took birth control this would stop happening?" Sherlock rumbled coldly, playing with the keys, his back still turned.

"No, I said it would rein in my hormones." John ducked his head apologetically, he supposed he hadn’t been very clear about that.

"That only means my scent will stop bothering you and my emotions won’t be all over the place. It can’t undo what’s already started." Sherlock tensed and stretched out a hand to gesture towards where he had pinned John.

"Then _what_ was that?" John still had his head ducked so he flicked his eyes up at the detective who was now glaring at John over his shoulder.

"That was you unconsciously sensing that I’m a bit weaker than normal and asserting your dominance by holding me down and scent marking me, it’s what Alpha's do when they choose a mate." He saw Sherlock twitch at that.

"John, you’re my friend but I want nothing to do with this, do you understand?" Sherlock said coldly and John winced but nodded.

"Yes. I know you don’t. As long as I don’t challenge you and we keep a safe distance, this won’t happen again. Promise." John assured and Sherlock nodded once.

"Fine. Now how about I prove to you I can drive. If I can manoeuvre us out of the car park will you let me drive us to Dartmoor please?" John frowned at the suggestion but still threw his hands up and agreed.

"Right, get in and let’s go." Sherlock ordered and stormed back to the driver’s side and got in but refrained from starting the car until John climbed in after him, once John shut the door behind himself Sherlock cleared his throat to get the Omega’s attention.

"We never speak of this, understand." It wasn’t a question but John nodded anyway.

Sherlock proved he was in fact a very apt driver like he'd said and had them on their way in no time. It was the most awkward drive in history.

////

Half an hour later and the silence was deafening. John and Sherlock had avoided eye contact so far and apart from the occasional sigh or cough, hadn't made any sound. John wasn’t sure how much more he could take so when he saw buildings in the distance he did an internal happy dance, it wouldn’t be long now and then they could get back to being the consulting detective and his blogger.

"I think we should stop for some air." Sherlock said finally breaking the silence and John looked at him curiously.

"Why? We’re nearly there." He asked confused but Sherlock was already pulling up next to a large rock formation.

"Grab that map and those binoculars; you’ll need them." Then he was out of the car and climbing up the largest rock to get a look around, leaving John sitting for a moment wondering what just happened. The truth was John wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with the silence, Sherlock was demented with it, don’t misread the situation though; he did like quiet, it let him think uninterrupted but after what happened... Sherlock was feeling a little _disturbed_. It wasn’t John’s fault about what happened, not really, the poor man couldn’t control what was happening to him but still who else could Sherlock be angry with?

"Myself." He whispered miserably and it was true, he should be pissed off at himself for giving in to his base instincts again. John couldn’t control his body when he was on his heat but Sherlock absolutely refused to believe that same went for him. He glanced down at John who had strode over to stand at the base of the rock and was reading the map.

"There’s Baskerville." He said pointing to the buildings they had seen in the distance, and Sherlock glanced at them whilst John looked around.

"That’s Grimpen Village." John said and again pointing behind him, making Sherlock’s gaze shift again and then John glanced back to the map.

"So that must be... Yeah. Dewer’s Hollow." He said looking over at the forestry to the left of Baskerville.

"What’s that?" Sherlock asked pointing to a fenced up area between the Hollow and Baskerville, John looked through the binoculars and blinked a few times, was that a...

"Minefield? Technically Baskerville’s an army base, so I guess they’ve always been keen to keep people out." John hypothesized.

"Clearly." Sherlock drawled and stared for a few moments before making his way back down the rocks, by the time he reached the bottom, John was already back in the car, he looked upset. Sherlock sighed in resignation at what he was about to do and strode over to the car, got in and sat for a moment.

"I’m sorry." He said quickly, John’s eyes widened and his head spun around to look at Sherlock.

"What?" He squeaked, Sherlock blushed and looked out the window.

"I’m. Sorry." He gritted out between clenched teeth and John smiled, he’d heard him the first time, he was just enjoying the rarity of Sherlock apologising to him.

"Its fine, Sherlock." Sherlock’s shoulders slumped in relief and he nodded.

"Good... Good." Then he started the car and they were back on the road to Grimpen, this time when John looked out the window he was smiling. Sherlock might be an arse but he was a nice arse, John supposed.


	5. Asserting Dominance

By the time Sherlock took the road that led into Grimpen the last traces of awkwardness had faded and he and John were now sitting in a comfortable silence, the relief they felt at the loss of the previous tension was palpable and John was having a hard time keeping a grin from his face. He managed in the end though, after all he didn’t want to frighten the natives.

That was when Sherlock spotted ‘The Cross Keys’ and turned to go down towards it, as they drove down to the car park around the back of the cottagey looking B&B, they noticed a large group of people crowded around a young man, John looked curiously at them but Sherlock only flicked his eyes to them for a second. _Tourists_ , he had no time for them. Once parked they jumped out of the car and started walking past the group of people.

"...Three times a day, tell your, friends, tell _anyone_." They heard as they walked past but then John’s footsteps faltered and sniffed the air gently, that man was an Alpha, a fertile Alpha. The only way John could smell that much detail was if the young Alpha had recently had sex, perhaps earlier that morning. Apparently he wasn’t the only one smelling it since Sherlock’s nose twitched as well and wrinkled in distaste but then another scent hit his nose and he flicked his eyes to John. John’s eyes were a little half-lidded and he was panting quietly, he was aroused, another Alpha’s scent was arousing John! If there was one thing Sherlock _really_ hated about Omega heat cycles, it was the bloody scenting thing!

"Don’t be strangers... and remember, stay away from the moor at night if you value your lives." The man called and John licked his lips. Sherlock could feel the growl starting to build in his throat but he absolutely refused to lose control again, it had happened way too often today, instead he swallowed down the possessive sound and pulled up his coat collar. Sherlock almost glowed with happiness when the movement drew John’s attention back to him and not the little piss ant Alpha, except that John was looking at him funny.

"I’m cold." He defended and John smirked a little bit, it was only late August. When they entered the charming little Pub they were greeted by a large, smiling Scotsman behind the bar.

"Hello boys! What can I do for you?" He called out cheerfully and Sherlock just gave John a look that said ‘ _YOU deal with this, I don’t like him_.’ John sighed and gestured for Sherlock to stand aside before he strode up to the bar.

　

*** _Sniff, Sniff_ ***

　

Oh! Another Alpha, except this one was bonded. Pity, he had a nice scent about him. John gave himself an internal shake, he was starting to doubt his earlier prognosis that this heat wouldn’t come in the 24 hours, he was already looking for a potential partner, he managed to swallow down his instinct to present his neck to this new Alpha, it was made easier by the scent of another Omega mixing with his.

"Hi, I’m looking to book a two bed room for my friend and me." The big Alpha’s nose twitched and he looked at John knowingly, then his eyes followed Sherlock who was wandering about the place being nosey.

"Of course, I’ll just check what’s available. Oh! By the way, just in case of anything ‘ _unplanned_ ’, you should know that our rooms have special sealing in the walls that prevent any pheromones from attracting any unwanted visitors." John blushed and cleared his throat.

"Yes, thank you-"

"Gary." The man replied and smiled before turning to the little cubbies of keys behind him.

" _Gary_." John finished and nodded, Gary let out a tut and turned to look at John apologetically.

"Sorry but I only have three queen sized rooms left, would that be alright?" John’s eyes squeezed shut for a second but he nodded and gave a tight smile, he was _not_ looking forward to telling Sherlock the good news.

"How long will you boys be staying?" Gary prodded.

"Um. We aren’t quite sure, can you book us up for three nights? We can always book an extra day or two if our stay goes well." Gary nodded.

"That’ll be £150 please." John had to hold back a flinch when he heard the price, this was the real reason that Sherlock didn’t want to do the booking, the detective just wasn’t a man to put his hand in his pocket unless it benefited a case, all the same John sighed and nodded as turned to get the money out of his wallet, that was when he saw the Alpha from earlier standing outside the door, talking on his phone. He wouldn’t exactly say the man was attractive and he looked a little wet behind the ears but... he smelled _gorgeous_.

"Eh, sorry we couldn’t do a double room for you boys." Gary said loudly and handed over the keys, John was never happier for a distraction in his entire life, he hated this part of his heat. All unbonded Omega's went through it, this sort of ' _selection process_ ', when an Omega began scenting for a strong, fertile Alpha to claim them.

"That’s fine." John replied quickly, scolding himself for his lack of control, then something dawned on him about the way Gary had said ' _sorry_ '.

"We, We’re not..." He tried, gesturing over his shoulder at Sherlock but when Gary looked at him oddly he just gave up and handed over the money, what was the point denying something that no one would listen to after all.

"Ta. I’ll just get your change." Gary chirped and turned back to the till, as he waited John glanced down at a pile of receipts on the counter distractedly, he frowned when he noticed there was one for a large order of meat, far too much for a vegetarian restaurant. John looked up to make sure Gary was still distracted, then he quickly tore the receipt from the pin it was under and stuffed it in his pocket. When Gary turned to give him his change, he smiled and started making small talk, Sherlock strode back into view just as Gary had walked around the bar to stand close to John.

"God bless, Henry Knight and his monster from hell." Sherlock heard and glanced up when John answered.

"You ever seen it? The Hound?" John asked and Sherlock’s eyes narrowed when the big Alpha leaned into John a little bit.

"Me? Naw. Fletcher has." Both Sherlock and John followed the man's gaze when he gestured to the young Alpha still talking on his phone outside, the smell of aroused Omega hit Sherlock again and he sniffed discreetly at the air, secretly salivating over the delicious, sweet scent coming from John. Even if it did bother him to no end that John was reacting to another Alpha he couldn’t deny how delicious the scent was.

Still, what was it about that puny Alpha that was setting John off?! He had to know. He could still hear John chatting away to Gary and his bonded Omega as he strutted out of the building, snatching up a half empty glass of beer on his way and sliding up behind this, _Fletcher_ who had just finished his phone call and was sitting at one of the bench's.

"Mind if I join you?" Sherlock drawled and Fletcher looked up at him and gestured for him to do so before turning his back to Sherlock again. _That_ just pissed Sherlock off and he sat down moodily, glaring at the back of the other Alpha’s head, he composed himself enough to force a smile on his face.

"It’s not true, is it? You haven’t actually seen this... Hound thing." He grinned in a friendly manner and Fletcher turned to regard at the other him suspiciously.

"You from the papers?" He asked, his accent grating on Sherlock’s nerves, he swallowed the urge to growl at the annoying brat and continued on.

"No, nothing like that. Just curious. Have you seen it?" He persisted.

"Maybe" _Arrogant little shit_!

"Got any proof?" Sherlock taunted and Fletcher scoffed at him and smirked challengingly making Sherlock growl lowly.

"Why would I tell you if I did? ‘Scuse me." He said and started to get up but stopped when the scent of a pre-heat Omega hit his nose and he looked up just in time to see John striding over with a drink.

"I called Henry-" John started but Sherlock interrupted him, trying really hard not to tackle the Alpha scenting the air above them for John.

"Bets off John, sorry." He said instead.

"What?" John asked confused and both he and Sherlock saw Fletcher puff up a bit.

"Bet?" He addressed John but Sherlock ignored him and just kept going, looking at his watch.

"My plan needs darkness, reckon we’ve got another couple hours of light-" Fletcher growled at him and addressed John again.

"Wait, wait, what bet?" He asked, looking John up and down. The Omega in John was enjoying the attention and the urge to bare his throat was overwhelming but the _John_ in John was bloody affronted at the little shit’s forwardness.

"Oh, I bet John here fifty quid that you couldn’t prove you’d seen the Hound." Sherlock taunted but Fletchers eyes never moved from John’s, he winked at the Doctor then jabbed a finger at Sherlock.

"Well, you’re gonna lose your money, mate." He taunted and Sherlock narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah?" The detective challenged egging Fletcher on to huff and pull out his mobile. John was panting a little by this point, he couldn’t help but enjoy the two Alpha’s displays of dominance as they taunted each other above him. Sherlock noticed this and swallowed, he’d have to end this charade quickly and get John out of here and away from this enemy Alpha whose eyes were darkening when the sweet scent of an aroused Omega penetrated the air. If Sherlock was honest, this little shit Alpha wasn’t the only one having a reaction, the poor detective had to squeeze his legs together hard to prevent any further stimuli and his mind was screaming at him to grab John and rub his scent all over him.

"Yeah. I’ve seen it. Only about a month ago, up at the Hollow. It was foggy, mind - couldn’t make much out" Fletcher bragged as he flicked through the photos on his phone and Sherlock scoffed, glad for something to focus on instead of the delicious scent in the air. He really _hated_ biology.

"I see. No witnesses, I suppose."

"No, but-"

"Never are." Sherlock tilted his head to the side smugly and Fletcher narrowed his eyes and lifted himself up further into more domineering stance, John shamefully felt drool gathering at the back of his throat at the image.

"There." Fletcher shoved his phone into Sherlock’s face and Sherlock snorted at the perfectly, normal looking dog shaped blur, walking across the moor.

"Is that it? It’s not exactly proof, is it?" Fletcher frowned and then showed the picture to John, who bent forward slightly to see it, the Alpha holding the phone looked pleased until Sherlock opened his mouth again.

"Sorry, John. I win." Sherlock said smugly and picked up the stolen glass of beer as if to drink from it, of course he wouldn’t really, would be disgusting if he did. Fletcher’s eyes shifted back to him and he started rambling about bad feelings and imaginary friends who worked for the MOD, Sherlock just scoffed at him sceptically and looked to John as if to say ‘ _See? This Alpha is nothing special, after all_.’ of course that would be the moment that Fletcher pulled out a giant, concrete cast of a dogs paw and flashed it off. The young Alpha smirked at the look on Sherlock’s face and John pounced on this opportunity.

"Er. We did say fifty?" John had to hold in the smile that threatened to break free as Sherlock twitched and handed him a fifty pound note before jumping up to stalk off in a mood. John sighed happily and finished off his drink before he stood to follow, he would need to stop off at a bathroom after he’d caught up to Sherlock though, pre-heat erections were such a bitch.

"Hey, you should find yourself a better Alpha. Lovely little Omega like you." Fletcher growled seductively and John's eyelids drooped, he was just about to reply when Sherlock practically screeched his name from beside their car, John shook his head and blushed apologetically at Fletcher before walking quickly and uncomfortably over to Sherlock who was oddly enough standing with the back door of the 4x4 open.

"Sorry, Sherlock. My heat must be closer than I-" Sherlock grabbed John’s arm and hauled him forward, just managing to choke out ‘ _Forgive me, John but I have to do this_.’ and then tossed John into the back of the car, face down on his belly, quickly following behind and jumping in after him to straddle John’s hips, making sure to slam the car door shut.

"Sherlock?! Wha- Mmmmm!" John’s protest drifted off into a moan when Sherlock bent over him and bit him firmly on the back of his neck, his whole body that was tensed for resistance suddenly felt boneless and a purr fell from his lips when the big Alpha’s hands slammed down on either side of his head. Sherlock seemed to be unsatisfied with this position though so he ended up reaching one arm down John’s body and pulled him up on his knees so his arse was pressed against Sherlock’s crotch, this made the Alpha moan and his teeth pressed a little harder against John’s flesh, just one more push away from breaking the skin.

John being the good little Omega he was, sensed his Alpha wanted more and pressed back against Sherlock, rolling his hips rhythmically. He wouldn’t be able to take penetration until his heat officially began and he started lubricating but he could still get Sherlock off like this, besides Sherlock’s knot wouldn’t be ready at this stage either. John whimpered at the thought of Sherlock fucking him and knotting him and the Alpha in question, who was now bearing down on John with hard fast thrusts of his hips, reached a hand around to John’s crotch to stroke him at the same time he started to suck and lick against the back of John’s neck, not once releasing the hold his teeth had.

They thrust frantically against each other for what seemed like and age until Sherlock growled into John’s neck and released himself in his trousers, the fluids seeping through the fabric and dampening the back of John’s. The feel of the warm liquid against his backside set John off and he keened loudly and came in his own trousers. Sherlock stroked John through his orgasm until he was sure his Omega was finished then gently released the back of John’s neck revealing a huge purple bruise, satisfied with the state of John’s nape, Sherlock bent down to lick long strips up across the mark and then instinctively reached below his belt to gather a small glob of come to rub into the bruised flesh. Now no other Alpha would try to claim John, Sherlock had marked him and his scent was mixed with the Omega’s, that's how it would remain 'til John showered.

Sherlock, still lost to the primal mind that had control for the moment lay flat against John and nuzzled his hair, it was John who came out of the pheromone induced haze first and realized what had happened, what Sherlock had done. He knew he had to do something but he didn't want to move and startle the big content Alpha. John swallowed and turned his head slowly to the side, staring at the upholstery.

" _Sherlock_." He whispered and clenched his eyes shut when Sherlock stopped moving and tensed.

"John?" There was only a nod in response and Sherlock pushed himself up and kicked open the door behind him, sliding out. John was still on his knees, staring at the seats as Sherlock cleared his throat and paced with his hands in prayer stance at the side of the car.

"I need to change and so do you; we need to take our bags up to the room anyway. You have the key, yes? Good. I’ll meet you inside." Sherlock rambled after what seemed like years and then grabbed the bags from the car boot and speed walked into ‘ _The Cross Keys_ ’ leaving John sweaty and stinking of sex in the back of the 4x4. Wonderful, now things were going to get awkward again and this time John didn’t know how they could fix it.


	6. Conflicted

John didn’t know how long he sat there on his knees in the back of the 4x4 and to be honest, he didn’t much care either, Sherlock would just have to wait, he had to understand _exactly_ what just happened. To his belief, one of the reasons Sherlock never wanted to deal with an Omega’s heat was because he couldn’t ‘ _function_ ’ as an Alpha should, and yet he was ‘ _functioning_ ’ just fine when he pinned John down, rutting against him and rubbing his scent all over the Doctor in an effort scare of any other Alphas. Which was another thing, John hadn’t even seen Sherlock _twitch_ when he was reacting to Fletcher, as far as John knew, Sherlock’s irritation had been because of the young Alpha’s taunting. Then again he did assume that Sherlock was infertile so he wouldn’t really have been looking for signs.

John groaned in exasperation and pushed himself up into a proper sitting position, swinging his legs around so they were dangling outside the open door. He could play that scene over and over in his head all he liked but John knew he’d never understand what was going through Sherlock’s mind, which left the question; what was going through _John’s_? That was the million pound question.

As far back as John could remember, he could never recall submitting so quickly and easily to anyone, he had always fought against the Alpha trying to dominate and claim him, this was why he had managed to stay unbonded for so long. He’d never trusted an Alpha to _not_ sink their teeth in and claim him as their own but when Sherlock’s teeth had gripped at that tender skin below his hair it was... _bliss_ , the pleasure he’d felt from that pressure against his nape was like nothing he’d ever felt before and this was all just so bloody confusing! He supposed a reason he trusted Sherlock not to bite was because he knew the man but then again he’d _known_ Alpha’s before and he still didn’t submit like that, _ugh_! It seemed analysing his own mind wasn’t going to help much either, John sighed, closing his eyes and breathed deep.

 _Wait a minute_!

John’s eyes popped open and he flipped over to his hands and knees again, face pressed against the seat fabric.

"Holy shit! What is _that_?" John moaned and rubbed his face against the backrest, was this _Sherlock’s_ scent, good God! It was amazing, John had never smelled anything like it before, it was so musky and fertile and he couldn’t get enough. Was that the reason John submitted so easily? Because of that lovely scent? It was the best answer John had come up with, so maybe John just...

" _I want him_." John startled himself at the sound of his own voice and the more he sat there surrounded by that addictive scent the more he realized that, yes he _did_ want him! He wanted Sherlock. Sherlock who was loyal, strong, innovative, resourceful and a freaking genius! And if John was honest, the best looking Alpha he’d ever come across. Any babies born from them bonding would be perfect!

John pulled back from his snuffling mission and grinned like he was high, that was the solution to all his problems; he would bond with Sherlock.

　

_* **Thump**!*_

　

John jumped at the loud noise so close to him and nearly slammed his head against the roof of the car, panting from fright, John threw a look over his Shoulder to see Sherlock standing outside the car again, bags at his feet and a clean pair of trousers on.

"You were taking too long so I got cleaned up in the pub bathroom. Hurry up and get out, you need to clean up too... and take our bags up to our room while you’re at it." Sherlock said coldly, not once looking at John. That was right, he couldn’t bond with Sherlock because Sherlock didn’t want to bond with anyone, especially John if the speed he took off at earlier was any indication. John nodded sadly and slid out of the car to grab the bags Sherlock had dumped on the ground, he tried not to wince when Sherlock backed away from him. As John was walking away he heard a loud hissing sound and glanced around to see Sherlock spraying a can of air freshener around and inside the car with his scarf held up to his face that he only pulled away to address John.

"Hurry up, John! We’ve got somewhere to be!" Sherlock growled before going back to his desperate task, John sighed resigned and walked quickly inside. After all he’d invaded Afghanistan and survived, he could survive this too, _maybe_...

////

It was another awkward silence in the car whilst Sherlock drove up to Baskerville, only this time the tension was much worse. When John had come back, sliding into the passenger’s seat and asked where they were going, Sherlock just ignored him and started up car that now smelled of ‘ _Winter Plum Blossom_ ’. He knew he’d hurt the man, John’s face had said it all and his eyes dulled as he turned to look out the window, Sherlock didn’t like it, it made his stomach all twisty and crampy but he didn’t know what to do or say, his whole world view had just shifted and all because of one primal, instinctual act, even if he had now found a way to control it, however unconventional it may be.

When he’d strode inside ' _The Cross Keys_ ' to get cleaned up, almost everyone's nose twitched and their eyes looked towards him, everyone including Fletcher who had migrated into the pub for a beer. Sherlock did take a little pleasure in the glare the little sod had sent his way but it was mostly overshadowed by the embarrassment he felt, if everyone could smell him, then everyone knew he’d lost control, surrendered his intelligence to the primal mind and that was the worst thing that could ever happen to him, _ever_.

Sherlock had stomped into the bathrooms, unwilling to wait for John, who was taking far too long by the way. It was the stupid Omega’s fault anyway Sherlock snarled in his mind as he changed his bottoms. When the pissed off Alpha had been doing up his belt he’d caught a whiff of John’s scent on his shirt and promptly dropped his chin down to sniff at it gently. _No_ , he couldn’t blame John, it was one thing for an Alpha to resist his instincts, it was another for an Omega to do the same, let alone on the verge of heat and surrounded with Alpha pheromones like the ones Fletcher and then Sherlock where letting off. When Sherlock raised his head again he realized that the smell of John on his clothes had calmed him down and it was then that Sherlock had an idea and decided to do a little experiment when he returned to the car. He had made sure to be especially cruel to John and upset him, not a nice thing to do yes but necessary to test his theory.

When John started walking away looking like a kicked puppy, Sherlock’s instinct to go over and comfort the Omega, to wrap him in his arms and lick at his neck soothingly was overwhelming so he had pulled his scarf up over his face and breathed in deep the lingering scent of John, the urge disappeared and had smirked to himself and pulled out a can of air freshener he had snatched from behind the bar, to get rid of any lingering stink of sex from the car.

He had found a way to control his instincts so no more incidents of dominance took place, however it seemed that Sherlock had miscalculated his instinct as a _friend_ to comfort John when he was miserable, hence the twisty, crampy stomach. Sherlock glanced out the corner of his eye when John’s head swivelled back from the window to look straight ahead, Sherlock desperately wanted to say something to the man and cheer him up but not only could he not think of anything, he didn’t want to say something and encourage any ‘ _feelings_ ’ John may have developed from their little lapse of control earlier.

Sherlock wouldn’t have thought anything of it if John wasn’t on the verge of a heat, well, that and the fact he seemed to have grown a quick attachment to Sherlock’s scent. Oh yeah, Sherlock had seen John rubbing his face against the seats in the back, it was why he had ran back inside the pub to grab the air freshener, John was also unconsciously sniffing the air every two minutes to try and get another pull of the detective’s scent but then wrinkling his nose when all he got was a waft of artificial plum. Sherlock had also noticed that although John made sure the mark on the back of his neck was covered up, John hadn’t washed off Sherlock’s... uh ‘ _Special Cologne_ ’, making the possessive Alpha in Sherlock hum in pleasure. Sherlock cleared his throat and took another discreet sniff at his scarf, much better.

Now back to Sherlock’s original point, Omega’s were sensitive to emotion before, during and after a heat so if one got it into their head that they wanted to bond with a specific Alpha, well, that’s what they’d do. Of course that’s taking into consideration the fact that most Alpha’s would consent to a bond, Sherlock on the other hand had no interest, _none_ , with bonding, even if the thought of John belonging to him was an appealing one and the fact he had quite liked the feeling of John’s body pressed against his and the smell of the short man, the _taste_ of him, _Oh_! Sherlock gulped noisily in the car and he breathed in again, he saw John’s neck twitch with the resistance of not turning to look over at him and frowned. The hell was wrong with him?

Fortunately for the consulting detective Baskerville had just come into view and he had to drag himself out of his confusing thoughts, he’d need to be firing on all cylinders for this one or risk getting them shot, something told him that, that would make John just a _little_ bit more unhappy than he was now. Speaking of the doctor, John looked over at him curiously when he noticed where they were heading and Sherlock did a little backflip in his head, it was nice to feel the man’s eyes on him again, he would’ve glanced back but he was too busy rolling down the window to meet the soldier approaching.

"Pass Please." He asked and Sherlock reached into his coat and pulled out a card to hand to the man.

"Thank you." He nodded and trotted back over to the kiosk he was stationed at to verify the ID, John gave him a look and Sherlock smiled inside.

"You’ve got ID for Baskerville? How." John whispered breaking the silence at last, Sherlock breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that John was doing that thing where he pretended to forget when Sherlock had done something wrong.

"It’s not specific to this place. It’s my brothers. Access all areas. I um-" Sherlock cleared his throat. "Acquired it ages ago, just in case." John shook his head and correctly translated it as ‘ _I stole it when he wasn’t looking_ ’.

"Brilliant!" John scoffed and Sherlock looked over at him, okay so maybe he was wrong, John, was in fact, still upset and now looking a little distressed.

"What’s the matter?" Sherlock asks, looking at John concerned.

"We'll get caught!" John whisper shouted.

"No we won’t! Well not just yet." Sherlock assured and John shook his head again and looked back out the window.

"Caught in five minutes. ‘ _Oh, hi, we just thought we’d come and have a wander ‘round your top secret weapons base_.’ ‘ _Really? Great! Come in, kettles just boiled_.’ that’s if we don’t get shot." John mocked and grumbled, Sherlock was about to reply when the guard came back over to return the ID card.

"Thank you, sir."

"Thank you." Sherlock replied and smiled smugly at John as he eased the car through the gates.

"Straight through, sir." The soldier called in parting and John nearly crumpled in half with relief.

"Mycroft’s name _literally_ opens doors." He mumbled, Sherlock smirked.

"I told you, he practically _is_ the British government, I reckon we’ve got about twenty minutes before they realize something’s wrong." John just flipped him the ‘V’ and tilted his head back.

Sherlock did as he was instructed and drove straight through to the main building and parked as close as possible so there wouldn’t be much of a walk, or run as the case may be, to the car. Once certain that the car was parked in a permitted space he and John jumped out to proceed into the main building, John still grumbling about getting shot. Hm. Paranoia, however justified in this case, was another sign of heat, perhaps John was closer to heat than either of them thought, Sherlock hoped not, it wouldn’t do for John to start lubricating in the middle of Baskerville; every unbonded Alpha within a mile radius would tackle him. Bad train of thought, Sherlock scolded himself and barely managed to stifle the growl threatening to escape his lips, he discreetly dropped his head to sniff at his scarf again and push away the possessive thoughts. God, this was getting ridiculous now.

Just as they were approaching the door a military 4x4 pulled up and a soldier jumped out and addressed Sherlock.

"What is it? Are we in trouble?" He asked and Sherlock caught the waft of another Omega.

"Are we in trouble ‘ _sir_ ’" Sherlock growled firmly and the man nodded apologetically.

"Yes, sir, sorry sir."

"You were expecting us?" Sherlock asked suspiciously and the Omega flicked his gaze between him and John.

"Your ID Showed up straight away, Mr. Holmes. Corporal Lyons, security. _Is_ there something wrong sir?" Lyons asked and Sherlock maintained his dominate aura.

"Well, I hope not, Corporal, I hope not." He drawled.

"It’s just, we don’t get inspected here, sir, it just doesn't happen." and Sherlock didn’t know what to say to that, lucky for him, John did.

"Ever heard of a spot check?" The Doctor asked pulling out his wallet and flashing his army ID, shocking both the corporal and Sherlock when he suddenly went from, seemingly harmless Omega to dominating soldier Omega.

"Captain John Watson. Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers." The corporal’s eyes changed from one of suspicion to one of awe, not many army Omega’s make it to such a high rank as Captain so to meet one in person clearly blew this young corporal away and he saluted John without hesitation. John saluted back stiffly.

"Sir, Major Barrymore won’t be pleased, sir. He’ll want to see you both." Lyons said, now addressing John and completely ignoring Sherlock, which was just as well seeing as how he was having a hard time, no pun intended, controlling his arousal at John's little display, Sherlock swallowed hard and his eyes shuddered in an effort to keep open, what was wrong with him? Why did he keep reacting to John?

"I’m afraid we won’t have time for that. We’ll need the full tour right away. Carry on." John ordered and _Oh_! Wasn’t that just adorable! Sherlock dug his thumb nail against his thigh to try and regain some equilibrium, too afraid he'd be noticed if he ducked his head down to sniff for John’s scent on his shirt.

"That’s an _order_ corporal." John growled firmly, almost Alpha like and Sherlock’s control nearly crumbled to nothing, walking was definitely going to be a problem. Thank god for all the chemicals here and the slightly weaker sense of smell the Omega body possessed.

"Nice touch." Sherlock complimented when they were inside Baskerville and he had calmed down somewhat, he saw John blush out the corner of his eye.

"Haven’t pulled rank in ages." John said to cover up his embarrassment.

"Enjoy it?" Sherlock teased and John turned to him with a smirk and a wink.

" _Oh_ , _yeah_." John managed to march a little further in front of Sherlock who was only just managing to keep his tongue in his mouth.

Army Omega. Delicious.

////

The tour though Baskerville was pretty much uneventful and boring really, well at least Sherlock solved the case of Bluebell the missing rabbit and he got to wind up Mycroft which was always a definite plus. Sherlock did almost lose his cool though when Major Barrymore had started throwing his weight around, he supposed it was a good thing Dr. Frankland had appeared when he did, now if only he could get rid of the annoying old man.

"Here’s my, er, cell number. If I could help, with Henry, give me a call." He smiled at Sherlock and handed him a card. Sherlock spent the next two minutes asking questions that Frankland just danced around, annoying Sherlock who just gave up and held up the card.

"I’ll be in touch."

"Any time." The man replied and left John and Sherlock to head back to their car.

"So?" John asked.

" _So_?" Sherlock replied raising an eyebrow and John rolled his eyes.

"What was all that about the rabbit?" Sherlock just smirked and pulled up his coat collar and John scoffed, drawing his attention.

"Oh _please_! Can we not do this, this time?" Sherlock looked confused.

"Do what?"

"You being all mysterious with your cheekbones and turning your coat collar up so you look cool." John grumbled as he jumped into the car, Sherlock’s mouth moved with no sound for a moment completely speechless.

"I don’t do that." He said eventually as he opened the driver’s side door and just before John shut his he called out.

"Yeah you do!" Sherlock’s brows furrowed when he sat down and he and John looked at each other for a moment before bursting into peals of laughter, something neither man thought they’d ever do again after what had happened that day. When the laughter ended Sherlock looked over to John who had his head tilted back, breathing heavily, face flushed and face relaxed. He looked beautiful. The soft smile that had rested on Sherlock’s face as he’d watched the Doctor slowly fell and he reached over to rest his hand on John’s leg.

" _John_." John rolled his head towards Sherlock in question.

"What?"

"About earlier, I-" John’s had moved quickly through the air and he pressed two fingers against Sherlock’s plump lips.

" _Don’t_. It happened, there’s no changing that and it helped me realize some things that I hadn’t considered before so please, just don’t say anything." Sherlock nodded and he licked his lips when John’s hand fell, he could taste him, it was nice.

"What things?" Sherlock asked huskily and John looked like he was just going to ignore Sherlock and go back to the quiet awkwardness they seemed to have been trying to master all day.

"Look... I don’t... After our little _thing_ this afternoon I realized that the only Alpha I’d ever want to bond myself too was _you_ , the... the _thing_ just made me admit to something I’ve been denying since I met you. Now I don’t expect your reciprocation so don’t worry. You don’t want any kind of bond anyway." The last part came out unintentionally sounding like a question and John took Sherlock’s shocked silence as an answer and smiled sadly.

"Thought so." he sighed and Sherlock swallowed, moisture finally returning to his mouth from the shock, of course he didn't want a bond... or maybe. No. He _didn't_!

"John-" He began without thinking but John just grinned at him.

"So where’re we off to next?" He chirped and Sherlock didn’t know if he was happy or aggravated at John’s interruption, then again who knew what might have come out of his mouth.

"Henry’s." Sherlock replied gloomily.

"Right! Off we go then." John sniffed and turned to look out the window, Sherlock watched him for a moment and then started the car. Could this situation get any more complicated?

Of course it could, he was Sherlock Holmes after all.


	7. Fear and Pain

Sherlock wasn’t sure if the drive to Henry’s was strained or not, the silence between them wasn’t exactly awkward, especially with John chipping in every once and a while to break it but there was... _something_ , lying beneath the quiet and it was starting to piss Sherlock off. Since they’d left Baskerville and John’s little confession behind, the Omega had been acting completely normal and how he could do that after dropping a bombshell like that? Sherlock had no idea, _he_ couldn’t do that, _why_ couldn’t he do that? He wanted to, God knows he did but he just _couldn’t_.

He couldn’t forget what John smelled like, tasted like, how he felt cocooned beneath Sherlock’s larger body. He couldn’t forget that John preferred his scent to any other Alphas, Couldn’t forget that John hadn’t washed away Sherlock’s scent marking at his nape and he just couldn’t forget the way his heart had missed a beat when John told him, that the only Alpha John wanted to bind himself to, was him. He wanted to delete it all but try as he might, it was impossible.

The confusion was overwhelming, his brain was shouting two arguing points at him and he didn’t know which one to listen to. On the one hand Sherlock had never been interested in bonding or heat, hell he’d never had any interest in _Betas_ let alone Omegas, heat or otherwise. Although he did go through a faze at Uni where he was fascinated by the chemicals the brain released during heats by both participants but his interest only went as far as what he’d read in books, he’d never actually experienced it in reality. Why would he need to?

On the other hand, John could be _his_.

No more annoying Beta and Alpha females. No more ‘ _Sorry Sherlock, I’ve got a date tonight_.’ and no more fear that John might finally get fed up and leave him. Sherlock’s eyes widened a fraction, he wasn’t actually considering- _No_ of course he wasn’t that’d be ridiculous! _That_ was it, Sherlock couldn’t take much more of this, anymore Alpha/Omega bonding crap and he’d snap! If he couldn’t forget about that afternoon then he’d do the next best thing, ignore it, it was the only logical thing to do and as long as John contained himself there should be no problem.

Sherlock’s eyes refocused and he realized he was pulling up in front of Henry’s house, he must have set himself on auto pilot whilst he analysed his situation; he did tend to drift when he was preoccupied. The car had barely stopped before John was jumping out and marching off towards the conservatory entrance, bad move, Sherlock’s Alpha instincts had been running wild all day and any kind of assertive move John made would be considered a challenge by this point. For example Sherlock didn’t like being lead, it was the Alpha who was always in front so he put his long legs to good use and stomped up in front of John, glancing down at John over his Shoulder reproachfully.

John sensing that Sherlock felt undermined, innocently tilted his head to the side and presented his neck to the man in submission and that was the straw that broke the Alpha’s back, Sherlock stopped dead and John bumped into his back.

"Wha-" He didn’t dare let John finish, Sherlock spun quickly around and pinned John to the doorframe they had just passed, the Alpha hormones pouring off of Sherlock were intoxicating and not in a good way. John’s instinct to calm his Alpha rose and John lifted his head up to nuzzle under Sherlock’s chin.

"Stop it!" He pressed John harder against the wood, snarling in John’s face and sinking his fingers into John’s shoulder. The smaller man whimpered in pain and pressed his chin to his chest, breaking any eye contact and hiding his neck to avoid further angering the furious Alpha. Sherlock didn’t seem to care though, the display only made him angrier and he pulled John forward to slam him back against the jam.

Sherlock’s mind was completely ruled by domineering Alpha now and there was nothing that could make him stop... or that's what he thought anyway but then he wasn't expecting the little cry John gave when his left shoulder came into contact with the wooden frame and the now palpable stink of fear in the air. The loud growl that had been tearing through the air from Sherlock stopped and his eyes that had dilated to black cleared, he jumped back fiercely and John gave a sigh of relief.

" _John_ , I’m sorry, are you alright?" God damn these Alpha urges, he never wanted to hurt John, never. Sherlock moved to take a step forward but John flinched so he stayed where he was listening to John pant and whimper against the pain he must be feeling. Sherlock wanted nothing more than to reach over and pull John close, stroke his hair, make everything alright again and this time it had nothing to do with Alpha instincts, it was just Sherlock but he didn't dare move lest he frighten John off completely.

John calmed down after a few minutes but he didn’t raise his eyes up to Sherlock’s, instead he just cleared his throat, his walls coming down to protect himself.

"Shall we go and see Henry, then?" John asked hoarsely, back to being ' _Default John._ ' but unwilling to move first lest he challenge Sherlock again. Sensing his friend didn’t want to talk about this and feeling the same way himself, Sherlock just nodded and strode towards the door to ring the doorbell. He heard John shuffle up next to him but didn’t look over, he didn't know if he could look at him right now without choking on his Shame. They only had to wait a few moments before the door swung open to reveal Henry who smiled at them in welcome, noticing the tension in the air though he let his smile drop and glance between John and Sherlock curiously.

"Aren’t you going to invite us in?" Sherlock asked warningly when he sensed a question brewing and Henry swallowed and nodded.

"Yes, yes, of course, sorry. Please, come in." He stood aside and Sherlock walked in followed by a blank faced John. John lagged a bit when he noticed the size and style of the house and he glanced at Henry curiously.

"This is, uh... are you, um... rich?" John stuttered and Henry glanced around dispassionately at his lodgings.

"Yeah." He sighed as if put upon, John couldn’t help looking over at Sherlock and raising an eyebrow, was this man serious, he’d kill for a place like this, Sherlock looked away quickly, unable to hold John's gaze, even for appearances sake.

"Right." John finally said, sadness and hurt creeping into his tone and followed Henry and Sherlock into the kitchen.

////

Henry had been every bit the polite host and offered them both a cup of tea, leaving out the milk and sugar for John and Sherlock to use at their leisure, he told them about his therapy session with Dr. Mortimer and John noted down the two words ‘Liberty’ and ‘In’ that Henry said had appeared when he was remembering that afternoon. Electing to be professional John turned to Sherlock when Henry was putting the milk back.

"Mean anything to you?" He asked gesturing to the words written in his notepad, Sherlock looked as if he wanted to say something else but held his tongue, sticking to the case.

"‘ _Liberty in Death_ ’ isn’t that the expression? The only true freedom." He answered softly, John nodded and a silence fell over them again, John closed his eyes for a moment and when they opened he moved as if to speak but Henry had returned by then.

"What now, then?" The posh man asked nervously and John honestly didn’t know, with all that had been going on today he hadn’t really been paying attention to the case, he supposed he should feel bad about that but... well. He did remember Sherlock saying something about a plan when they were talking to Fletcher though so he’d go with that.

"Sherlock’s got a plan?" He asked and cringed when it came out more of a question. He looked over to Sherlock who was lowering his tea mug and smiling strangely.

"Yes." He chirped and Henry nodded eagerly.

"We’ll take you back out onto the moor..." Sherlock began.

"Okay."

"... and see if anything attacks you." He finished and John’s looked at him like he was crazy, which if he was honest probably wouldn’t be far off the mark with the way Sherlock had been acting today, the bruises he could feel on his shoulders gave a throb at the thought.

" _What_?!" He asked incredulously instead of clearing his throat nervously.

"That should bring things to a head." Sherlock reasoned and Henry’s face went white.

"At night? You want me to go out there at night?" he asked robotically and Sherlock hummed in affirmation taking another sip of tea.

"That’s your plan?! _Brilliant_!" John snorted.

"Got any better ideas?" Sherlock asked John and the truth was no. He didn’t.

"That’s not a plan." He replied weakly, Sherlock sighed.

"Listen, if there is a monster out there, John, there’s only one thing to do: Find out where it lives." The detective drawled and smiled at Henry. John gave a mirthless laugh and then winced when the force of it hurt his shoulders, Henry glanced at him concerned.

"Are you quite alright, John?" He asked and John smiled at him.

"Yes, yes, I’m fine, I just... can I use your bathroom?" Henry blinked at him and nodded.

"There’s one just down the hall." John thanked him and dismounted the stool he was sitting on to shuffle off, unaware of the eyes following his every move. Once he was secured in the bathroom, John slipped of his jacket and jumper, then unbuttoned the red shirt beneath to slip that off too so he could get a look at the marks on his shoulders in the mirror behind the sink. They had already turned a painful looking purple and the bullet wound scar on his left shoulder was lit up a bright red.

John hissed at the image he made and started looking around for some kind of soothing cream or balm Henry might have lying around, he was too busy looking through the cupboards under the sink that he didn’t hear the bathroom door open and close softly. The only warning he got that someone was in the room with him was the hot puff of breath of the back of his neck before two long arms surrounded him and pulled him back against a strong, lean chest.

"I’m sorry, I’m so _very_ sorry, John." Sherlock whispered into his hair, John swallowed and tried to pull away but Sherlock’s arms just tightened across his waist, it seemed Sherlock was back into Alpha mode again, he wasn’t going to win this one with strength, he’d need to use his brain.

"Sherlock, let me go, please. My shoulders hurt and I need to treat them." John said lowly and shifted his head back against Sherlock’s shoulder so he could nuzzle at the big Alpha’s neck hesitantly, after all he didn’t want another repeat of what happened earlier. Sherlock purred appreciatively though and in turn, shifted so he could nuzzle at John’s hair. John let the mutual nuzzling continue, he knew Sherlock needed to do this even if the idiot didn’t know _why_ and he was enjoying it. In fact John was enjoying the affection so much that he lost track of time and it wasn’t until the last rays of sunlight disappeared that he realised they must’ve been in there together for at least a half hour.

Luckily Sherlock also noticed the lack of daylight and pulled back surprisingly gently but that could mean anything right now, John kept his eyes locked on the silhouette of the detective in the mirror, waiting for whatever explosion Sherlock would have this time but to John’s shocked delight the detective only dropped his head down to place a kiss on John’s left shoulder and slipped a tube of ointment into his hand before disappearing back out the door.

Maybe, there was some hope after all.

////

Well _that_ had been a disaster.

John gently closed the front door to Henry’s house, not wanting to disturb the hyperactive man who was now sleeping off a strong dose of sleeping pills John had given him. A hound indeed, _John_ hadn’t seen anything, well he’d see the flashing Morse code but that was it, then again he did _hear_ something but still the idea of some kind of crazy, monster, dog roaming the moors of some arsey little town in the middle of nowhere seemed highly unlikely.

Plus Sherlock had said he hadn’t seen anything either and he was with Henry so John could only assume that the poor man was just so traumatised from the ordeal he had suffered as a child, that he was seeing things.

Poor bastard.

John smiled when he caught sight of ‘The Cross Keys’, he wanted to find out of Sherlock had deduced anything yet from their little outing, usually the man would’ve started rattling off ideas as soon as he had seen what he had to see but the Alpha had been in a bit of an odd mood when John caught up to him and Henry and he just took off in the direction of the pub. John just assumed he was thinking hard and needed some peace.

When John entered the pub he looked around curiously for Sherlock but saw no sign of the man in the main area, Gary spotted him looking around and pointed over to the little dining room with the fire place in it, John nodded to the man and made his way through, Sherlock was sitting at one of the big chairs in front of the fire with a brandy at his side, John frowned, that was odd, Sherlock never drank, still, John made his way over to join the man.

"Well, he's in a pretty bad way. He’s manic, totally convinced there’s some mutant, super dog roaming the moors..." John informed as he sat down and Sherlock tensed, looking at John stiffly from the corner of his eye.

"And there isn’t, though, is there? ‘Cause if people knew how to make a mutant, super dog, we’d know..." Sherlock started to breathe heavily, rocking back and forth slightly and clasping and unclasping his hands.

"They’d be for sale. I mean, that’s how it works." John finished but then realised he hadn’t told Sherlock about the Morse code.

"Oh! Listen, on the moor I saw someone signalling. Er. Morse, I guess it’s Morse." Sherlock started blinking rapidly as if to clear something from his eyes.

"U.M.Q.R.A. Does that mean... anything...?" That was when John noticed something wasn’t right, Sherlock hadn’t said a word and he was all twitchy and breathing deep, John just kept going though in an effort to bring Sherlock out of whatever crazy he’d sank into now.

"So, okay, what have we got? We know there’s footprints, ’cause Henry found them; so did the tour guide bloke. We all heard something." John elected to leave out Fletcher's name so as not to aggravate the man but frowned when Sherlock let out a shaky breath.

"Maybe we should just look for whoever’s got a big dog." John huffed in the end and that’s when Sherlock finally spoke.

"Henry’s right." John looked at him.

"What?"

"I saw it too." Sherlock said trembling, okay now he was frightening John, Sherlock Holmes never trembled.

"What?" John asked again

"I saw it too, John." Sherlock mumbled again.

"Just ... just a minute. You saw what?" John questioned sitting forward and finally taking in Sherlock’s appearance. The man was pale, shaking and covered in sweat, a thick cover of it pooling in the dip between his collarbones and there was an odd bitterness in his scent that John had never smelled before.

"A hound, out there in the Hollow. A gigantic _hound_." Sherlock gritted out, finally locking eyes with John. The Omega couldn’t believe what he was hearing, Sherlock had to be joking right? He tried to calm Sherlock down, tried to rationalize the situation but he obviously didn't word it properly as Sherlock took it as a criticism and lashed out at John furiously insisting there was nothing wrong with him, drawing the attention of all the diners around them and going on to prove himself by mocking John as he deduced a pair of diners sitting behind them, to the right.

"...I use my senses, John, unlike _some_ people, so you see, I _am_ fine, in fact I’ve never been better, so just _leave_ _me_ _alone_." Sherlock snarled out at the end of his rant, John swallowed and stared at Sherlock then looked away and cleared his throat.

"Yeah. Okay. Okay." John mumbled to calm his distress at Sherlock’s venom, sitting back in his chair and trying to relax. He had to relax, less the cramping he could feel in his lower abdomen get worse.

"And why would you listen to me? I’m just your friend." John choked out sarcastically.

"I don’t have _friends_." Sherlock said viciously, sounding absolutely disgusted by the idea and that cut deeper than any other cruel act Sherlock had inflicted upon him that day. No matter if Sherlock didn’t want to share John’s heat and bond with him, no matter that Sherlock’s instincts ran hot and cold, leading John on and pushing him away again and no matter that it was Sherlock’s Alpha pride that had pushed the man to harm John physically, _none_ of that was unforgivable, bruises faded whether they were visible or not and John was always assured that even if their relationship didn’t progress into something deeper, he’d always have this brilliant, gorgeous man’s friendship.

It seemed that he never even had that. He had been wrong.

"Naah. Wonder why?" Slipped out softly as John stood up and rushed away, shoving past someone in his haste to get out of this place, so much for the hope that little kiss on John’s shoulder had given him, it was obviously just one of Sherlock’s Alpha mood swings. John fell to his knees in agony once he’d made it outside, the cramping in his belly that had started earlier only getting worse due to the emotional distress he was under, he was wrong, there was a good chance his heat was due in the next twenty-four hours and if he didn’t find some way of dealing with it then who knows what could happen. John doubled over when his stomach gave a particularly violent twist, he rocked back and forth on his knees for a time until the pains past and took deep breaths and straightened up.

After thinking really hard, John knew what he had to do, tomorrow he’d go over to Henry's and apologise to the man, tell him that Sherlock was on his own and then head up to London, back to 221B where he could suffer in peace, by the time Sherlock was back in London, John’s heat would be over. As John was sitting on his knees, trying to calculate when he’d get a train back home a flashing drew his attention out the corner of his eye, John looked up curiously, someone was signalling again! Maybe John could go and find out what the UMQRA business was all about before he left, maybe he could give Henry something of use before bowing out gracefully.

Mind made up, John stood up slowly and started making his way over to the flashing light in the distance, this time without Sherlock striding by his side.


	8. Conquering His Fears

Sherlock kept his gaze locked on the fire, flickering away before him when John jumped up and ran off, why should he have to look at the imbecile anyway? It’s not like he knew what he was talking about. Sherlock _had_ seen a hound, there was no mistaking it, he saw it with his own two eyes and his eyes had never and would never deceive him. John was the one with something wrong with him, John was the one making accusations and making out that there was something wrong with Sherlock and John... was only trying to help.

"Shit!" Sherlock choked out and jumped up to go after his friend, yes, that’s right, John _was_ his friend and he’d just basically told him to his face that it was all a lie, that’d he never _had_ considered John to be a friend, but he _was_ , in fact he was Sherlock’s _best friend_ and he’d be lost without him. Sherlock took the stairs up to their room two at a time, panicking that John might’ve grabbed his things, might just leave Sherlock all alone but when he burst through the door calling out John’s name, only the silence greeted him.

Reassuringly, John’s bag was still there sitting next to Sherlock’s at the bottom of the big bed and why the hell was there only _one_ bed?! Sherlock and John had _specifically_ agreed on two. Sherlock growled at himself, no, this was not a priority, finding John was and Sherlock had no idea where to look but he figured going back downstairs might be a good start, it was just a shame that his feet couldn’t move.

The panic Sherlock had been feeling since the Hollow only seemed to increase and he sank down to the floor at the bottom of the bed beside his and John’s bags and started breathing heavily, manic thoughts running through his mind.

What if John had gone to the Hollow to prove that the Hound didn’t exist?

What if he was getting torn apart right this moment by large fangs?

What if he’d just decided to abandon his possessions and return to London anyway? Or worst of all; what if John had gone into heat and was being mounted by an Alpha? An Alpha who _wasn’t_ Sherlock? An Alpha who would sink his teeth into John’s soft neck and bond with him? An Alpha who would take John away from him... _forever_.

NO! Sherlock’s eyes went wild and feral at the thought, there was no way John would let himself be bonded to another Alpha, he had told Sherlock that not five hours ago but then... John might not have a choice if the Alpha was dominant enough. The growl vibrating through the room at the thought was utterly terrifying, and the Beta couple in the room next door fled from the sound of it, Sherlock heard them but he didn’t care, all he cared about was John and John was missing because Sherlock had made one _stupid_ comment and-

"No. That’s not right, is it?" Sherlock asked aloud his growl disappearing, he had been rotten to John all day, had been _hurting_ him all day, even before they’d left London he had been rude and callous and _cold_. How could he have been such an idiot, John was... John was _everything_ to Sherlock, John was his whole world, why had that thought never crossed his mind before? Oh! It has though, hasn't it? When he had stripped a horrible green parker decorated with C4 from John’s body calling ‘ _Are you alright_?’ to the Omega who was trembling before his very eyes. Just like that afternoon at Henry’s when he had pinned John against that door frame.

That was another horrible mistake Sherlock had made, he remembered stepping into the bathroom behind John and catching sight of the damage he had caused in his anger and _why_ was he angry? Because he was confused, he was being pulled back and forth by his own mind and because he couldn’t decide what he wanted, John had paid the price, paid the price for only being who he was. Although, when he had wrapped his arms around John’s body and pulled him against his own, he hadn’t been confused, it was the first and only time in his life he had willingly given into his instinct to protect any Omega in distress and why? Because John was _his_ Omega.

When John had jumped up to go to the bathroom in Henry’s, Sherlock’s eyes had followed his every step his attention only being drawn away by a comment Henry had made when John had closed the door to check his wounds.

‘ _He’s such a charming man. The Alpha who claims him will be very lucky_.’

Sherlock realized in that moment that yes, the Alpha who got John would be lucky and the thought that the Alpha might not be him... _killed_ him. That was the moment he gave in and let his mind pull him in one direction, Sherlock shoved away all his fears, all his anxieties, all his doubts about heats and bonding and decided that yes, just like John said Sherlock was the only one for him, John was the only one for Sherlock and he wanted, actually _wanted_ , to share John’s heat and make them one. Sherlock had risen from his seat, tea forgotten and ignoring the strange look Henry had given him as he retrieved an ointment from the first aid kit below Henry’s sink and then proceed to the bathroom when his Omega was.

Sherlock had thoroughly enjoyed the little nuzzling match he and John had shared, he had lost himself in John’s lovely sweet, woodsy scent that was still laced with his own spicy, musky one and the softness of his greying blonde hair against his face, he never wanted to pull back from that moment but the sun had set and they had work to do. In parting, just to make sure that John knew his affection was genuine he had laid a soft kiss on John’s left shoulder, the one he had so needlessly slammed into the wooden frame outside and slipped the ointment into his hand before leaving.

Then they went to the Hollow and everything had fallen apart, it was all that stupid bloody Hounds fault! None of that mattered at the moment though as Sherlock finally managed to get his arse in gear and jog back down to the bar. Sherlock made a quick sweep of the pub on the off chance that John had returned but was disappointed when he saw no sign of his gorgeous little Omega, Billy saw him looking around and called him over.

"Oi! Your fella ran out of here about an hour ago, he looked awfully upset, I wouldn’t worry though, he looked as if he was heading up to the ‘ _park_ ’ when I last saw ‘im, must’ve gotten curious." Billy told him and although Sherlock didn’t understand why the man had put emphasis on ‘ _park_ ’ he breathed a sigh of relief, if John was only going to a park then he would be safe, thank God.

Sherlock was about to ask directions to this park when he caught sight of Henry’s therapist, sitting up at the bar with a large glass of white wine in her hand, clearly this would be a golden opportunity to get some information of Henry’s situation. The only thing was, he was rubbish at interviewing people, it was John who was the master charmer, not him, somehow he didn’t think that John would be up to doing him a favour though, still he had to try and when John was finished talking to her, he and John could talk and he could tell John about _everything_. Mind made up, Sherlock pulled out his phone.

 

_**Henry’s therapist currently in Cross Keys pub - S** _

_**SO?** _

_**Interview her?** _

_**WHY SHOULD I?** _

 

Sherlock pouted at the text and glanced back up to Dr. Mortimer, She was a Beta, average looking but definitely John’s type, Sherlock didn’t like it but he sent a picture of her to John nonetheless, after all, when John turned up to schmooze her, Sherlock would be hiding in a corner out of sight, making sure she kept her dirty Beta hands to herself.

////

This was intolerable, Sherlock was just one more coy smile away from stomping over there and punching that woman in the face and he didn’t give a rats arse _who_ saw or what _anybody_ would think. The annoying woman was completely charmed with his lovely little John, and really who could blame her, John was, as ever, the charming, sweet, funny man he was, not to mention his smile could light up a room and he smelled _wonderful_. Even more so with Sherlock’s scent still mixing with his own uniqueness, of course the Beta woman wouldn’t be able to smell it on John because of her useless Beta senses but still, it made him happy to know that John hadn’t washed it off yet.

Sherlock could have slapped himself, he was one step away from letting out a girly sigh, clasping his hands to the side of his face and batting his eyelashes, just because he had finally admitted to himself that he wanted John and was prepared to do something about it did not mean he was going to turn into a sentimental fool or worse; _Molly_.

Perhaps watching John so closely was not such a good idea, although he did want to keep an eye on the situation he was also aware of the fact he had some serious thinking to do, once he had calmed down somewhat, Sherlock had come to the conclusion that John was right, there was no such thing a monster mutant Hounds, however he did see it so there must be _something_...

Sherlock, noting that the attraction between John and _Louise_ was one-sided on her part, let himself drift off to his mind palace for a bit so he could go over everything thoroughly. He thought about Henry’s words, Fletcher’s words, Baskerville, Dr. Stapleton, his trip to the Hollow and every single thing that he and John had done since arriving to Grimpen. Sherlock didn’t know how long he wandered the grand halls of his mind palace before he came to his final conclusion but when he started back to life the pub was practically empty, save for a few old men and one or two couples, perhaps he should’ve skipped the trip to the John Watson wing.

Speaking of John, the Doctor and his interviewee were gone and it looked like they had been gone for some time, Sherlock frowned and glanced at his watch, it was 12:34am, the last time he had looked it had been 9:15pm, hm. He wondered if John had managed to get any interesting data from his time speaking with the therapist, suddenly a horrible thought entered his mind. What if when he wasn’t looking, John and Louise had hit it off properly? What if they had decided to have an ‘ _early night_ ’? In John and Sherlock’s room?

If you asked Sherlock how he had gotten up those stairs so fast, he honestly wouldn’t be able to answer you, all that he knew was, he was sitting downstairs contemplating this nightmare and the next his ear was pressed to his own room door, listening for sounds of anything untoward going on. When he didn’t hear anything, Sherlock gently eased the door open, stuck his head around it and breathed a great sigh of relief. John was alone, sound asleep on the left side of the bed facing the right, Sherlock slid his whole body into the room and closed the door just as gently as he’d opened it. He then toed of his shoes and tossed his coat and suit jacket over a chair by the bathroom door. It wouldn’t do to climb into bed like he would do a runner if John twitched.

Sherlock padded over softly and slowly climbed in the bed, easing his body under the sheets and sighing at the warmth radiating off of John’s body. Hm. _John_. The adorable Omega looked so peaceful in his sleep, his body rising and falling slowly, his hair sticking up all over the shop and the little, barely there snore was just hilarious. Sherlock couldn’t hold in the snort that escaped him and unintentionally disturbed John who stopped snoring and started shuffling and wriggling closer to Sherlock. The cunning detective saw an opportunity here and rolled over to lay on his back, arm raised in the air, John took the bait and ended up with his head pillowed on Sherlock’s lean chest and his arm tossed across the man’s abdomen, it was amazing. Sherlock wrapped his own arms around John, one over his waist and the other cradling his head, fingers shifting through John’s hair in a soothing motion to coax him back into a deeper sleep, it worked like a charm.

??////

Sherlock had let himself doze lightly, fingers never stopping there stroking motion through John’s hair all night and only reopened his eyes when the sun had begun to rise. He thought about it long and hard for about a half hour before he decided to slip out of bed, get changed and leave, he didn’t want to but he knew John too well. If John woke up cradled in his arms after last night’s fight he would punch Sherlock’s lights out and on the verge of heat or not, would _really_ , _truly_ leave. It was better if Sherlock let John wake up properly and gather his thoughts before speaking to him about anything, besides Sherlock had to go to Henry’s and pick up some of his drugged sugar, which was the only possible solution he had managed to come up with the night before. Narcotics.

Sherlock went for a drive across the moors to think some more about his theory and the more he thought, the more convinced he became that it was the sugar, he and John had done, ate and drank all the same things since they’d arrived, all expect for the sugar because John was a strange man and preferred milk in his tea to sugar. _Disgusting_!

He spent most of his morning driving but stopped back at that rock formation he and John had been around at the start of their trip, he mimicked his pose atop it again and stared into Baskerville, he’d have to think up a way of getting back in there so he could test his theory about the bloody sugar, perhaps, just this once mind, he could lower himself to call... _Urgh_! _Mycroft_ for... _Help_. The thought of it turned Sherlock’s stomach but one must do what one must do... later though, much, much, _much_ later. Sherlock took one last glance at Baskerville and then made his way down the rock and back to the car, he had to get over to Henry’s and actually sneak off with some of the man’s sugar, Sherlock hoped that wasn’t as strange as it sounded but still as easy as it sounded.

As it turned out, it proved to be easier than he expected since Henry had somewhat of a sleeping ailment the night before, which was odd because Sherlock was sure that John had told him he’d given Henry something to help him sleep. Sherlock did notice that Henry seemed a little antsier today though, still, it was no concern of his how the moron was feeling, he’d got what he wanted and made his way out and back towards the pub. He had bigger things to worry about than Henry Knight’s mood swings.

Speaking of those things, Sherlock was startled when he noticed John sitting in the local cemetery all by himself, it was only 8:15am and John should still be asleep right now or at least having breakfast. Sherlock stared at John for a bit and suddenly all the words he had planned to say to the man left him in a rush, all the words he’s thought about suddenly became unworthy and Sherlock had no idea what to say but he knew he couldn’t just leave, he had to do something and he had to do it now or he may lose any chance of ever making John his. Sherlock swallowed down the dryness in his throat, opening the squeaky gate and proceeding up the path to where John was sat flipping through his notebook.

John, hearing footsteps, looked up and his face fell when he saw who it was, he didn’t have time to deal with another one of Sherlock’s mood swings right now, he had to catch a train due in an hour and he still had to get his things and call a taxi, he stood up from the monument he was sitting on just as Sherlock cleared his throat to address him.

"Did you, er, get anywhere with that Morse code?" Sherlock asked and wasn’t that the greatest opening line ever. John huffed and started to march off, was this man actually serious?

"No." John answered shortly.

"U.M.Q.R.A. wasn’t it?" Well Sherlock had started with it so he may as well go with it, Sherlock started to think of what it might be and started trying out different sounds to it but John shut him down telling him it was nothing, unable to think of any handy tricks, Sherlock went for an attempt at humour.

"How about Louise Mortimer? Did you get anywhere with her?"

"No." John said bitterly.

"Too bad. Did you get any information?" John smiled a little and glanced over his shoulder but kept walking.

"You being funny now?" He teased and Sherlock decided to be honest.

"Thought it might break the ice a bit."

"Funny doesn’t suit you. I’d stick to ice." John replied and Sherlock panicked inside, John wasn’t responding to him at all.

" _John_." He called softly, pain evident in his voice, John ignored it, however hard it was to do and kept walking.

"It’s fine." No it wasn’t.

"No, wait. What happened last night ... Something happened to me; something I’ve not really experienced before …" John scoffed, if last night was all Sherlock was going to explain himself for then John didn’t want to know.

"Yes, you said: fear. Sherlock Holmes got scared. You said." Sherlock couldn’t take the mocking tone John used thought he suspected he deserved it, he grabbed John’s arm gently and pulled him around to face him, tried to explain the feeling of terror when you think your own senses are betraying you but John just brushed him off and started walking off again. That’s was when words found their way back to Sherlock’s brain, when in that moment he thought John was walking away from him for good.

"Listen, what I said before, John. I meant it." John stopped and turned to face Sherlock curiously.

"I don’t have friends. I’ve just got _one_ and over the past twenty-four hours I’ve treated that one very poorly even though he’s done nothing to deserve it, I’ve attacked him, ignored him and worst of all made him believe that I don’t care for him, but I do, John, more than anything and I would _give_ anything for him to give me the chance to prove to him just how much I care for him by deepening our friendship to something more solid. _Please_ , John." Sherlock finished, blushing and on the edge of running away, the look on John’s face is what kept him grounded, the look of awe and, dare he think it, _love_.

John for his part was blown away, there was no way Sherlock was saying what he thought Sherlock was saying, all the same though, he slowly made his way back over to Sherlock and tilted his head to the side, contemplating for a brief second.

"I think... I think if you said, specifically, what you wanted, this ‘ _one friend_ ’ of yours may just give you what you’re asking for." John stuttered out nervously, Sherlock huffed in affection at John’s transparency and then lowered his head down so his lips were a breath away from John’s.

"John Watson, Would you do me the honour of letting me share your heat and bond with you, love?" The endearment came as a bit of shock to them both but Sherlock got his answer when John closed the gap between him, wrapping his arms around the Alpha’s neck and kissing him deeply and as he slid his own arms around John’s waist to pulling him on his tiptoes to press as close as possible, Sherlock wondered why he had ever protested something that felt this good in first place.


	9. A Bit of Fun

John and Sherlock remained locked together in the graveyard for a long time, neither one of the wanting to pull back from the kiss and let the moment pass; it was such a shame that breathing was a necessity. John was the first one to pull back a bit but Sherlock followed his lips, dropping one last chaste kiss on them and then resting his forehead against the doctors. John tilted his face up to nuzzle his nose against Sherlock’s who smiled lightly and nosed John back.

"This better not be another one of your crazy mood swings, Sherlock." John huffed, Sherlock winced and felt an immense amount of guilt fill up his chest, he hadn’t meant to muck John about, he just had a hard time dealing with his emotions and instincts, and he _was_ a sociopath after all.

"I promise you, John, this is no mood swing. I’m sorry about... _everything_." If there was one thing Sherlock had learned it was that apologizing was painful, even if it was necessary, however he’d always make the effort for John. They stood there together for another moment before pulling back completely to get back to business, walking closer together than normal as they left the cemetery.

John had the urge to slip his hand into Sherlock’s or wrap an arm around his Alpha’s waist but refrained, it was one thing for Sherlock to want to bond them together behind closed doors in the throes of a powerful heat and share a kiss in the heat of the moment when they were alone, it was another matter entirely for Sherlock to be affectionate in front of other people or so he thought anyway. Poor John nearly jumped out of his skin when Sherlock stopped dead, eyes going wide in realization and then turned to John to plant a great, soppy kiss on lips.

"John! You are amazing! You are fantastic!" Sherlock called when he pulled back and started walking a bit faster, shoving a hand into his coat to pull out his notebook. John swiped a hand over his lips to remove the slobbers Sherlock had left and followed after the Alpha.

"Yeah. What?" He asked as he trailed behind but Sherlock couldn’t give him a straight answer as usual.

"You’ve never been the most luminous of people, but as a conductor of light you are unbeatable. Some people who aren’t geniuses have an amazing ability to stimulate it in others." John scoffed and rolled his eyes to the sky, yeah, Sherlock was back to his old self, he supposed it should be nice but he hadn’t made up his mind on that yet, he thought on it as he and Sherlock stopped in front of the pub.

"Hang on – you were saying "Sorry" a minute ago. Don’t spoil it. Go on: what have I done that’s so bloody stimulating?" Sherlock who had been writing on his notepad, looked up under his curls and gave John a filthy smirk, John blushed, okay, perhaps he should have worded that better considering what they were just doing not five minutes ago. The Alpha huffed in amusement at John’s red face and took pity on him, showing him what was written on the pad.

　

_**HOUND** _

　

"Yeah?" John asked confused and Sherlock pulled it back to place dots between the letters.

"But what if it’s not a word? What if it is individual letters?" He answered and showed the edited page to his partner and just like that, John caught on to what Sherlock was getting at.

　

_**H.O.U.N.D.** _

　

"You think it’s an acronym?" He surmised and Sherlock shoved his notebook back in his pocket.

"Absolutely no idea but-" Sherlock trailed off and his face contorted in confused anger when he caught sight of Lestrade, shuffling on his feet casually in the pub. Sherlock stomped off into the pub just as John had caught sight of the DI too, he made sure quickly follow in Sherlock to prevent the man from ruining his only other real friendship outside of John.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?" Sherlock called causing John to wince and shake his head in exasperation. That was his Sherlock; always the charmer.

" _Well, nice to see you too_! I’m on holiday, would you believe?"

"No, I wouldn’t." John wisely chose that moment to stroll past Sherlock to distract him after getting the sense that the man was about to say something really rude. Lestrade pulled off his sunglasses and followed John’s movements with his eyes, something Sherlock didn’t like, not one bit; he narrowed his eyes as they exchanged greetings.

"Hello, John."

"Greg!" Sherlock looked between the two men suspiciously, why was John calling the DI ‘ _Greg’_?

"I heard you were in the area. What are you up to? You after this ‘ _Hound of Hell_ ’ like on the telly?" Sherlock gave an internal scoff at the DI’s poor attempt at a cover story, did the man really think that if he kept on pretending he was here by some sort of coincidence, Sherlock would believe him? Did he honestly believe Sherlock was stupid?

"I’m waiting for an explanation, Inspector. _Why_ are you here?" Sherlock gave an expectant expression.

"I’ve told you; I’m on holiday." Lestrade insisted and Sherlock lost with little patience he had with the other Alpha.

"You’re brown as a nut! You’re clearly just _back_ from your ‘ _holidays’_." Lestrade knew he’d been rumbled but still tried to stick to his story.

"Yeah, well I fancied another one." And in that one sentence not only had he confirmed Sherlock’s deduction but also the tone of voice the man used, gave Sherlock the reason for his sudden appearance.

"Oh, this is Mycroft, isn’t it?" Sherlock scoffed in irritation and Lestrade’s eyes went wide in panic.

"No, look …" Sherlock wasn’t even paying attention to him anymore.

"Of _course_ it is! One mention of Baskerville and he sends down my handler to ... to spy on me incognito. Is that why you’re calling yourself _Greg_?" John who had remained silent throughout the exchange, and who was rather amused by it if he was honest, chose that moment to intervene, frowning, he pointed at Greg.

"That’s his name." John told Sherlock incredulously. Sherlock had known Greg all these years and never once bothered to ask for his first name? _Seriously_?

"Is it?" Sherlock for his part was shocked; he couldn’t believe Lestrade had a first name. How odd. Speaking of the DI, he was shaking his head in _not_ surprise and holding a pint of beer he had just swigged I between John and Sherlock’s little exchange.

"Yes – if you’d ever bothered to find out. Look, I’m not your handler and I don’t just do what your brother tells me." Greg said as if he was fed up, John understood that, Mycroft’s interference had a habit of pissing you off. Still maybe he could make Greg feel a bit included in their little investigation.

"Actually, you could be just the man we want." John said and was pleased when some light shone in Greg’s eyes, mission accomplished.

"Why?" Sherlock wasn’t so pleased, why should John, his John, need anything from another Alpha, detective inspector or not. John looked at him with that ‘ _shut up_ ’ face and pulled a bit of paper from his pocket to show Sherlock.

"Well, I’ve not been idle, Sherlock. I think I might have found something, here. Didn’t know if it was relevant; starting to look like it might be. That is an awful lot of meat for a vegetarian restaurant."

"Excellent." Sherlock replied, proud at John’s observance of this evidence, John could sense that he’d pleased his Alpha and gave Sherlock a little grin before nodding back over to Greg.

"Nice scary inspector from Scotland Yard who can put in a few calls might come in very handy." John concluded and Sherlock looked at him, as ideas go, that was bloody brilliant. Hand it to John to come up with something so simple yet so _fantastically_ genius. To show his pleasure for John’s quick thinking he leaned over and planted a sweet kiss on the man's lips, taking no notice of the choking noises that Greg was making. When he pulled back, John was smiling at him with a blush staining his cheeks, the shorter man turned around to hit the bell on the countertop, making sure to hide his joy at the fact Sherlock had just kissed him in front of another living, breathing human being, something he was convinced Sherlock would never do.

"Shop!" Although, maybe the detective was just subconsciously acting like that because of the change in John’s scent seeing as he hadn't taken the birth control that morning, he hadn't seen the point at the time since he’d assumed he was heading back to London, Sherlockless.

"Be with you in a minute!" Was called back, bringing John back from his musing’s. Greg was looking decidedly uncomfortable now after Sherlock’s little PDA, he looked as if he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how.

" _Oh for God’s sakes_! Will you just spit it out already?" Sherlock growled and Greg twitched, looking between the consulting detective and John.

"Well I was just... I didn’t know you two were well... I had an idea but you two obviously weren’t together three months ago and well..." Greg made an awkward hand gesture and blushed, looking away again. John knew why he was blushing and it wasn’t because he was with Sherlock now, speaking of the devil, Sherlock’s eyes had narrowed, clearly he had picked up on the one part of that statement that could doom him and Greg.

"What do you mean ‘ _you two obviously weren’t together three months ago’_? How could you be certain of something like that Lestrade?" Sherlock asked in a terrifying voice, although he feared he already knew the answer. Greg looked over at John for help and Sherlock took a menacing step forward, it seemed to be Greg’s lucky day when Billy chose that moment to bounce up to the bar.

"Sorry, bit of a problem with one of the kegs. How can I help?" Greg gave an internal sigh of relief and flashed his badge, asking to speak with the owner in private. Billy’s face went an interesting shade of green and he called out for Gary who came over and after looking at the DI invited him back into a sitting room. Sherlock went to follow the DI, violent intentions swirling around in his head but was stopped when John reached out and grabbed his arm.

"You go do your thing, Greg. We’ll be there in a mo’." John said gently, Greg nodded gratefully at the Omega and followed the two men in front of him towards the little sitting room but as soon as they were out of sight, Sherlock rounded on John.

"Please tell me that you didn’t spend a heat with _him_?!" Sherlock hissed and John sighed, things were going so well, he nodded at Sherlock and braced his body.

"I’ll _kill_ him" Sherlock snarled and was about to take off down the corridor the man had just left from but John launched himself at Sherlock, knocking him through the door of the closed dining room where they had sat the night before. Quickly before Sherlock had time to recover, John turned and slammed the door shut behind him, standing in front of it, arms spread wide.

"John, get out of my way. He needs to be taught a lesson." Sherlock hadn’t stopped growling since John confirmed his fears and it only got louder now John was protecting the other Alpha. John did step away from the door but only to approach Sherlock and wrap his arms around his waist carefully, Sherlock was going through another phase of Alpha protectiveness and John didn’t want to antagonize him since that hadn’t worked out for him so far.

"Let me explain what happened and then if you still want to gut Greg like a fish, I’ll let you, okay." He negotiated soothingly placing kisses all around the base of Sherlock’s neck and collarbone.

"Fine." Sherlock gritted out and John licked a strip up his throat, pleased. Sherlock’s eyes fluttered shut at the sensation and John pushed him gently over toward the chairs they’d sat at last night to nudge Sherlock down into one before plonking his arse in the other.

"Okay, listen to me. The heat I had three months ago, was nothing short of a _bastard_ , couldn’t have come at a worse time. Harry was on holiday, Sarah had a boyfriend, all my other backups weren’t interested in taking me through my heat and you were, well, _you_. As it happened when we were at the crime scene for the ‘ _Pea Soup_ ’ murders, Greg caught a whiff of me and as he’d just split up with his misses again, offered to help me through it. I agreed." John said calmly but Sherlock’s eyes were still flashing, he was going to have to go down a different route.

"Okay, Sherlock, okay... Remember yesterday when you pinned me down and clamped your teeth to the back of my neck? How I just gave in and submitted myself to you?" John asked seductively and watched pleased as the anger left Sherlock’s eyes and was replace by burning lust and satisfaction.

"Yes. I remember." Sherlock replied hoarsely. John smiled at the Alpha and dropped to the floor, crawling forward on his hands and knees like a prowling lion to situate himself between Sherlock’s spread legs. Sherlock watched the Omega’s every movement and relaxed back into the big chair with a sigh.

"Well how would you feel if I told you that, I’ve never submitted to an Alpha in that way before? How would you feel if I told you that the only thing I let Greg do was satisfy my physical need and nothing more, no knotting? And _how_ would you feel to know that as soon as my heat begins, you will be able to sink your teeth deep into my neck and press yourself deep inside me, lock us together so that no one but you will ever, _ever_ , be able to share my heat again? Hm? Does _that_ make you happy?" Throughout his speech John had slid his hands up and over Sherlock’s thighs, stroking up and down and massaging the tense muscles ‘til Sherlock was a mass of relaxed, deeply satisfied Alpha.

"That makes me very happy, John." Sherlock growled low and slipped his own hands onto John’s Shoulders to squeeze rhythmically before continuing.

"I want to flip you over and fill you up right now but I can smell that your heat is close and I don’t want to spoil you. You do, after all, still need to be punished for letting Lestrade have you." John dropped his head against Sherlock’s left thigh and rubbed his face against it.

"Okay. I’ll take your punishment without protest but only under _one_ condition." Sherlock raised an eyebrow at John and nodded for him to continue, he gave a loud, gravely groan when John bent his head slightly to bury his face in Sherlock’s hard crotch.

"You don’t punish yourself and let me take care of this." Sherlock nodded fiercely making John smile and then he helped the doctor open his trousers to pull his cock out and my _God_ It was big! 7" if John’s calculations were correct, that meant 11.5" during a heat including a knot. John stroked up and down the gorgeous length so he could admire it a bit longer, then just lunged forward and swallowed it down in one, Sherlock howled and shoved a hand in the back of John’s hair pressing the Omega down and choking him. It wasn’t the first time this’d happened to him so he’d built up a bit of a resistance to it, it seemed to be an Alpha kink; even female Alphas did it, in a manner of speaking since they _did_ have other equipment.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Sherlock called and started thrusting himself down John’s throat, John for his part just relaxed his throat and took it, focusing on breathing through his nose and swallowing every once and a while to make Sherlock groan. Saliva was dripping down John’s chin and soaking into his collar and tears were running down his face at the force with which Sherlock was shoving into his mouth but John loved it, he loved it because Sherlock was loving it, the Doctor could tell from the way Sherlock was growling, moaning, groaning and snarling John’s name over and over again. He could tell from the sweat that was covering Sherlock’s face and pooling at his collarbone and he could tell from the way Sherlock had sped up at the end before he shoved himself so deep that John never even got to taste his come before it was pumped down into his stomach in thick globs.

Sherlock released the back of John’s head so the man could pull back once he had finished and John climbed up into his lap to place kisses and licks all around Sherlock’s face and neck whilst running his hands through ebony curls.

"Enjoy that?" John asked sounding a bit rough and Sherlock let out a huff of laughter.

"I did, very much. Thank you for that."

"I wish we could stay here and rest right now but I think Greg will get suspicious if we don’t make an appearance soon." Sherlock whined but nodded in agreement, he nudged John to get off him and stood to right himself. It took Sherlock five minutes but he managed to disguise the fact he’d just had a blowjob, wouldn’t do for Lestrade to start asking questions and pestering John. Speaking of which, the Omega was adjusting himself uncomfortably by the door as he waited for Sherlock.

"Do you want me to help you with that?" Sherlock asked as he approached John but the little Omega just smiled and shook his head.

"No, I’m being punished remember." Sherlock smirked and tugged John into him by his belt making John giggle and wrap his arms around Sherlock’s neck.

"You’re right, you are being punished." Sherlock said smugly before leaning down and giving John a filthy kiss that rubbed John in all the wrong ways right now, when Sherlock drew back he was chuckling.

"I’ll go Join Lestrade and give you a few moments to sort yourself out." And then he was out the door and down the hall before John knew what was happening.

"Oh God! What just happened? THAT BASTARD!" He snarled and then slid down to the floor to palm himself as quickly as possible, it was nice to take time out and have a little fun with his new Alpha but he really needed to get back to being serious about this case and maybe kick Sherlock’s arse for making his situation worse.


	10. The Run Around

Sherlock strutted down the corridor towards the room where Lestrade was like the cat that’d caught the canary, he was positively radiating satisfied smugness and why shouldn’t he be after that lovely little interlude John had provided him with. The dark haired Alpha was man enough to admit he went in there with every intention of pouncing on John and marking him in a way that meant no other Alpha would come near him again, _ever_. Then John had gone all pliant and lovely and started telling Sherlock all those wonderful things and just melted like hot chocolate to let Sherlock fuck his mouth; he hadn’t been expecting that.

On the other hand, Sherlock was still a little pissed off that _Lestrade_ of all people had shared one of John’s heats, it didn’t matter that back then Sherlock had no interest or knowledge of John’s heat and it didn’t matter that he had been disgusted by the very thought of being involved in one. All that mattered was _right now_ , and right now Sherlock was pissed that Lestrade had been inside _his_ Omega.

Although that thought would make the next part of his plan slightly easier to go through with; part of John’s punishment for letting that useless lump inside his lovely body. When Sherlock finally entered the room where Lestrade was interrogating Gary and Billy, he had steeled himself to go through with his plan, he really didn’t want to do anything to harm John and he’d make sure no physical harm would befall him but still... no, he had to do this. Lestrade was flicking through a book of sales records when he strode in but looked up at Sherlock nervously when he heard the man enter, Sherlock just gave him a smug grin and padded over to the little mini kitchen off to the side to prepare some coffee for John.

Speaking of John, the little Omega finally ambled into the room just as the kettle finished boiling and Sherlock smirked at the flushed, satisfied look he was wearing, he looked beautiful, Sherlock couldn’t wait to see what that look would translate into during a heat. John gave him a quick smile and then turned his attention over to the table where the three men sat, Sherlock felt the pull of jealousy that John’s attention wasn’t on him anymore but pushed it away, it was for the best that John’s attention wasn’t completely focused on him right now so he could get his task done.

When he was done preparing his ‘ _coffee_ ’ he put the cup on a saucer and strode over to John’s side with it, John who had been so deep in thought that he started when Sherlock appeared beside him with a suspicious looking cup.

"What’s this?"

"Coffee. I made Coffee." Sherlock clarified and pressed the cup forward a little more.

"You _never_ make coffee." John snorted and Sherlock gave him a hurt expression.

"I just did. Don’t you want it?" He gave John a pleading look.

"Are you still apologising for last night?" John asked gently and Sherlock got the most brilliant idea.

"Perhaps..." He mumbled looking away and thought about the way John had gone down on him earlier to let a blush stain his cheeks. John smiled at him and took the offered coffee, taking a sip, Sherlock looked on pleased but then John winced and pulled back.

"Mm. I don’t take sugar..." Sherlock pulled the kicked puppy face again and John relented and continued drinking.

"That’s nice. That’s good." John lied and winced again when he took another sip before turning to place it on the mantel behind him, Sherlock watched him like a hawk, and in truth he was a little surprised that John had taken a second sip regardless of Sherlock’s facial expression but then again this was John and John would do almost anything to please him. It made Sherlock feel a little bit guilty about drugging John with tainted sugar but he had to know if his theory was correct.

"These records go back nearly two months." They heard Lestrade muse and looked back over to table, Gary was clutching Billy’s hand tightly in his own to comfort his Omega, and it was understandable considering the ginger man was trembling slightly.

"Is that when you had the idea, after the TV show went out?" Lestrade asked, giving Gary a challenging glare so hard that poor Billy cracked under the weight of it.

"It’s me. It was me. I’m sorry, Gary – I couldn’t help it. I had a bacon sandwich at Cal’s wedding and one thing just led to another..." Sherlock smirked behind the man’s back and Lestrade looked off to the side to hide his own amusement, it would be terribly unprofessional if he didn’t. When he looked back over at Billy it was with a face of incredulity.

"Nice try." Gary chose that moment to speak up and spare his Omega any more distress.

"Look, we were just trying to give things a bit of a boost, you know? A great big dog run wild up on the moor – it was heaven-sent. It was like us having our own Loch Ness Monster." Gary said trying to appeal to Lestrade, trying to explain but the DI just looked appalled.

"Where do you keep it?" He asked and Gary looked away, resigned.

"There’s an old mineshaft. It’s not too far. It was all right there." Gary confessed and Sherlock chose that moment to jump in after picking up on a key word.

" _Was_?" He drawled in question and Gary snarled, not liking being ganged up on by two Alphas; Billy leaned over and nuzzled his lover’s bristly cheek to calm him down. The image brought forth the memory of John doing something similar back in that dining room earlier and Sherlock smiled lightly and glanced out the corner of his eye towards his own lover.

"We couldn’t control the bloody thing! It was vicious! And then, a month ago, Billy took him to the vet and, er ... you know." The man softened his voice near the end when he caught sight of his Omega’s distressed look but John needed clarification.

"It’s dead?"

"Put down." Gary softened.

"Yeah. No choice. So it’s over." Billy finished and Gary sighed beside him once more trying to get Lestrade to see the lightness of the crime.

"It was just a joke, y’know?" Oddly enough the DI failed to see the funny side and stood up looking down at the pair angrily.

" _Yeah, hilarious_. You’ve nearly driven a man out of his mind." He snarled and then marched out of the place followed by John, Sherlock hung back to see the couple exchanging guilty looks and then proceeded to follow his companions out. When he got to the front door of the pub and looked out he saw John and Lestrade standing way to close and sharing a joke, his eyes narrowed at the image and he stomped over quickly to slide his body in front of John’s slightly, John sensing Sherlock’s discomfort at his closeness with the other Alpha took a step back, nodding for Greg to do the same.

"So, you believe him about having the dog destroyed?" Lestrade asked, trying to change the subject and stop Sherlock from getting all protective.

"No reason not to." Sherlock answered and looked John up and down from the corner of his eye to make sure he was okay and hadn’t been handled. Lestrade seeing that his little diversionary tactic wasn’t working decided to bow out gracefully and took a couple of steps back to show Sherlock he was leaving.

"Well, hopefully there’s no harm done. Not quite sure what I’d charge him with anyway. I’ll have a word with the local Force. Right, that’s that, then. Catch you later. I’m enjoying this! It’s nice to get London out of your lungs!" Lestrade called backwards as he left and John smiled and made a point to buy the DI a drink once his heat was over, when he glanced back to Sherlock he was pleased to note that the man had relaxed from Greg’s departure.

"So that was their dog that people saw out on the moor?" John asked, Sherlock eyes left the departing figure of Lestrade and locked on John.

"Looks like it." Sherlock answered making John frown.

"But that wasn’t what _you_ saw. That wasn’t just an ordinary dog." John pressed and Sherlock got a distant look in his eyes.

"No. It was immense, had burning red eyes and it was glowing, John. Its whole body was glowing." Sherlock shuddered, shook his head and turned to walk towards the car with John trailing after him.

"I’ve got a theory but I need to get back into Baskerville to test it." Sherlock told John who frowned in thought whilst Sherlock got out his phone and started flipping through his contacts ‘til he reached ‘M’.

"How? Can’t pull off the ID trick again." John asked, Sherlock smirked at him and hit dial before lifting the phone to his ear.

"Might not have to." Then the person on the other end of the phone answered and Sherlock’s whole demeanour changed to one of forced sincerity.

"Hello brother dear, _how are you_?" John shook his head, this man could be absolutely terrible sometimes; pity the man in question didn’t really care.

" _Sherlock, what do you want_?" Mycroft answered testily.

"Why do you assume I’m asking for something? Perhaps I’m just concerned about my big brothers welfare." Sherlock pouted and leaned against the 4x4 as both John and Mycroft collectively snorted.

" _Sherlock._ What _do you want?"_ Sherlock rolled his eyes, obviously if he wanted what he wanted he’d have to play ball with Mycroft.

"Very well, I need to get back into Baskerville, today and have unlimited access to the labs." Sherlock heard his brother choking on the other side and smirked at John as he reached his hand out to pull the man against his side so he could press his ear to the back of Sherlock’s phone and listen in.

" _What on_ Earth _makes you think for one moment that I’d even consider such a ridiculous idea_?" Mycroft sniffed and John could hear the Beta’s trademark smugness over the phone, it almost made him roll his eyes but instead the Doctor let out a squeak all when he felt Sherlock’s hand grab his arse and slapped the man on the chest.

" _What was that_?" Mycroft drawled and Sherlock grinned.

"Nothing, just a passing animal molesting its mate. Now back to my request, look I have no interest in doing anything that’ll destroy your lovely army base but I suspect there is someone in there experimenting on the residents of Grimpen village so I need to get in there and run a little experiment of my own to prove my theory. I’ll do two cases for you?" Sherlock bargained and he could practically hear Mycroft thinking, Sherlock estimated at least two minutes and thirty seconds of silence so he gestured for John whom he was still holding on to, to hold the phone to Sherlock’s other ear. John frowned at him and did as he was told but nearly dropped the phone when Sherlock tipped his head back and dropped his own to lay a kiss at the skin just at his Shirt collar.

"Sher-" He started but Sherlock silenced him with a kiss on the lips and whispered against them.

"Hush." The dipped back down to start nipping, licking and sucking on John’s neck causing the Omega to bite his lip so as not to make any more embarrassing noises. When Sherlock nipped at a particularly sensitive bit of skin near John’s ear, the smaller man gave up all resistance and lifted his free hand up to scratch through Sherlock’s hair, making the big Alpha growl low in appreciation. It was such an odd thing to experience for John because of how unexpected Sherlock’s affection was, one day Sherlock was fighting against everything Alpha/Omega and today he’s kissing John in front of people and necking in the car park.

" _Very well brother. However it will be five cases and no arguments_." John whined lowly when Sherlock’s head shot up and he grabbed the phone out of John’s hand.

"Very well, how long will it take for you to make the call?" Sherlock asked, breath hitching when John leaned in to return the favour to Sherlock’s neck.

" _Ten minutes_. _Good luck little brother, do tell me how you get on_." Then there was a click and Sherlock shoved his phone in his pocket and turned so John’s back was pressed against their car before reattaching his lips to the wanton little Omega. They kissed, sucked, licked and moaned for the ten minutes that Mycroft had said it would take for arrangements to be made before the detective pulled back from John’s lips, not far though, just a breath away from touching him.

"As much as I would love to keep going, we do have an appointment at Baskerville." Sherlock husked.

"Mm-yes- and we should-make good- on that-" John said in between little pecks to Sherlock’s lips, they shared one last deep kiss and then Sherlock pulled away completely to get into the driver’s seat.

"Well then, let’s get this over with shall we?" Sherlock called grinning and John grinned back and jumped in the car too.

??

////

??

This was proving to be very difficult to watch, Sherlock had assumed he was braced for watching John’s reaction to the drug but there was no way any Alpha could be prepared to watch their Omega run around in the dark terrified of the sounds Sherlock was playing over the speaker system. Right at this very moment, Sherlock hated himself, hated himself with more passion than he could possibly imagine. John was trembling so hard he could see it on these fuzzy monitors, he watched the poor man stop and reach into his pocket for his phone and then he heard his own phone start to ring but he fought to ignore it and kept watch on the screen before him.

John ran around for another couple of minutes before Sherlock played a particularly vicious growl over the speakers causing John’s whole body stop and go pale before the man made a run for one of the cages along the side of the room, when Sherlock saw no more movement for a time he finally reached the end of his patience, heart hammering in his chest and picked up the phone to call John. When the man answered he was panting heavily and squeaking through his words.

" _It’s here. It’s in here with me_."

"Where are you?" He really didn’t want to ask since he knew when John was anyway but he had to if he wanted to keep this a secret form John.

" _Get me out, Sherlock. You have got to get me out. The big lab: the first lab that we saw_." Sherlock was already on route but he had to keep John talking, one, so he knew the outcome of his experiment and two, he couldn’t bear it if John had a panic attack because of him.

"John? John?" He called when there was no sound for a second.

" _Now, Sherlock_. Please." John begged and Sherlock started to run.

"All right, I’ll find you. Keep talking."

" _I can’t. It’ll hear me_."

" _Keep talking_. What are you seeing?" Sherlock insisted and quietly pushed his way into the lab.

" _I don’t know. I don’t know, but I can hear it_." Sherlock was looking around for the cages but it was a little different down here than looking at an overview monitor.

"Can you _see_ it?" Sherlock asked as he approached the cage John was hiding in and paused when he saw John move forward to peek out the crack, he heard John start to deny it but then he trailed off.

" _I_ can _see it_. _It’s here_." John said flatly and Sherlock rushed over to pull the sheet from the cage and slide it open, when the lights blinked on John looked absolutely terrified and the smell of his fear was making Sherlock both angry and sick at the same time. He had done this, he had made John like this even if he had managed to prove his theory it was not worth the look on John’s face or the pallor of his skin.

"Are you all right?" Sherlock asked worriedly and wasn’t expecting the flying leap John took from the back of the cage into Sherlock’s arms, knocking him on his arse, nor was he expecting the desperate kiss John planted on his lips before the man launched himself back onto his feet to start pacing and panicking.

"Jesus Christ... It was the hound, Sherlock. It was here. I swear it, Sherlock. It must..." Sherlock stood up and reached for the terrified Omega.

"John..." The man just cut him off and strode forward to warp his arms around Sherlock and buried his head in the man’s coat.

"Did ... did ... did you see it? You _must_ have!" He looked up at Sherlock and asked frantically but Sherlock pressed him back against his chest and held him tight, placing a soothing kiss on top of John’s head.

"It’s all right. It’s okay now."

" _NO IT’S NOT! IT’S NOT OKAY! I saw it. I was wrong!_" John screamed and panted into Sherlock’s chest making the detective wince.

"Well, let’s not jump to conclusions." Sherlock said softly and John looked up at him again.

"What?"

"What did you see?" John frowned and pressed himself as tightly to Sherlock as humanly possible.

"I told you; I saw the hound." John huffed, snuggling Sherlock and making the man smile and rub his chin against the top of John’s head.

"Huge; red eyes?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes."

"Glowing?"

"Yeah." Sherlock smirked and tipped up John’s head to look up at him.

"No."

"What?" John was starting to pull away but Sherlock couldn’t have that so he kept a tight grip on John and explained.

"I made up the bit about glowing. You saw what you expected to see because I _told_ you. You have been drugged. We have _all_ been drugged." John’s eyes widened and Sherlock gave him a comforting squeeze.

"Drugged?" John asked and screwed up his face.

"Can you walk?" Sherlock questioned and John nodded but didn’t let go of Sherlock so Sherlock shifted them around so he could put a steadying arm around John’s shoulders and keep one of the man’s arms around his waist.

"Come on, then. It’s time to lay this ghost." Sherlock said gently to the Omega and pulled him slowly in the direction of Stapleton’s lab.


	11. Rapid Symptoms

The explosion rocked the entire area, debris was scattered all over the moor and four men stood and watched the whole thing with expressions of disappointment and horror. John was kind of stuck between the two, on the one hand he was horrified that Dr. Bob Frankland had just exploded into thousands of little pieces; on the other hand, he was disappointed and pissed off that the murdering bastard wouldn’t be punished for his crimes, that he got away with it, so instead of having to choose between the two emotions he settled for disgust since it covered all of the above.

"I’m going to put a call in to the local force, let them know what happened. You three should go back to the village; they can collect statements from all of you tomorrow." Lestrade told them after a moment of silence before striding off to the right and pulling out his mobile, Sherlock nodded at the man’s back and went to take a hold of John to pull him towards Grimpen but the Omega doctor shifted around him to head over towards Henry who had slid down to sit at the base of a tree, a blank expression on his face, John crouched down and laid a hand on the fellow Omega’s knee.

"Henry, it’s time to take you home." John coxed gently but Henry didn’t look at him, his eyes were still locked on the minefield.

"Henry." John said again and slid his free hand up to cup the side of traumatised man’s face, this startled Henry out of his fog and he looked at John, tears gathering and falling from his eyes then dropped his gaze again.

"It was all for nothing." Henry croaked out, John tilted his head to the side in question and Henry sniffed loudly.

"Everything we did, all that I’ve gone through, it was all for nothing. He still got away with it and people still think my father and I are crazy fools, I’ve no way to prove them wrong." John firmed his grip on Henry’s jaw and tipped the man’s head up to lock eyes with him again.

"Henry, he’s not getting away with it, people like _him_ think they’ve managed to hide every bit of evidence of their crimes but they can’t, let alone when you’ve got Sherlock Holmes on your side, there _will_ be proof." John could feel Sherlock’s smug stare at the back of his head but he ignored it in favour of comforting his new friend.

"Really? You really believe that?" Henry sniffed loudly, his spirit elevating at the kind words and John nodded encouragingly and then had a silly thought that he knew would cheer the other Omega up.

"Of course! Oh! And by the way you’re forgetting something important, in fact the most important thing we’ve discovered." John grinned stupidly and Henry laughed at him and drew his arm across his eyes, wiping away the last of the gathered tears.

"What’s that, John?"

"Even if the rest of the village and Britain don’t know you and your dad aren’t crazy, the most important person that counts does; _you_." Henry burst into laughter.

"That’s so cheesy John." He cried out with mirth and John joined in.

"Yeah! I know! Think I read it in a fortune cookie once." That just set them both off even more; John stood and pulled a giggling Henry with him, then he turned to Sherlock, cheeks flushed and a huge grin on his face.

"You head back to the pub and I’ll make sure Henry gets home alright." John told him and then turned to head in the direction of Grimpen with Henry in tow but Sherlock stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

"No, we’ll all take the car, drop Henry off and then head back together, we have some business of our own to take care of, remember?" Sherlock drawled and his eyes locked pointedly onto John’s, Henry saw the heated look exchanged between the two men and chimed in with his own input.

"Actually, why don’t you two just head back and get some rest, I need some time to clear my head anyway so I don’t mind the walk." John looked at him surprised and was about to insist they give him a lift but Sherlock was already tugging him in the direction of the 4x4 before he could open his mouth.

"Thank you very much Henry! I’ll put a call in tomorrow to have Dr. Frankland’s work looked over, have a pleasant walk home!" Sherlock called over his shoulder, still pushing and tugging a protesting John towards the jeep sitting just beyond the trees.

"Sherlock! That wasn’t very friendly; that kid’s world has just been blown apart... no pun intended." John cringed at his own poor choice of words and smacked Sherlock on the back of the head when the man snorted.

"He’ll be fine John; he just needs time and quiet to think. Now I don’t know about you but I’m hungry and knackered so what do you say we head back now before we both drop?" Sherlock asked impatiently and climbed into the car, John raised an eyebrow at him and hopped in the other side.

"What’s up with you all of a sudden?" Sherlock, who had just started the car, sighed and turned off the ignition.

"Bugger." He groaned then grabbed John by the front of his jacket and tugged him over the seat to sit in Sherlock’s lap.

"Sherlock! Wha-" John never finished before Sherlock lips crashed down on his and he trailed off into a moan instead, Sherlock hummed in approval and deepened the kiss, pushing John back against the steering wheel and accidentally honking the car horn. They giggled at the sound and kissed passionately, grabbing at hair and biting along each other’s necks but always going back to the sweet press of lips, Sherlock was about to try his luck at getting John naked right this second in the car when the little Omega pulled back from the kiss to hiss in pain, startling the detective.

"John? What’s wrong? Are you injured? Did I hurt you?" The Alpha questioned, frantically running his hands along John’s body searching for any injuries his little love might have sustained, when his hands brushed over John’s lower abdomen the doctor gasped and grabbed at Sherlock’s hands, holding them there and moving them to stroke gently at the area.

"Do _that_ , just like that." John gritted out then buried his head against Sherlock’s neck to sniff along the white column of flesh. Sherlock frowned but did as he was told, moving his hands in soothing circular motions along John’s belly, this was fine for a few moments, in fact it looked as if John was recovering but then he felt the doctor tense in his arms and let loose a whimper. Sherlock, who was getting very worried for his companion, gently lifted up John’s jumper and Shirt to see if there was any damage but all he saw was toned, tanned flesh twitching and tensing in pain. When he rested his hands on the bare flesh to continue rubbing, John arched up and gasped loudly, the man’s skin was on fire.

"Sherlock stop." And Sherlock did.

"What is it John? What’s wrong with you?" Sherlock growled frustrated that he couldn’t help his partner.

"It’s my heat Sherlock, it’s here." John panted out and Sherlock’s eyes widened.

"H-how long do we have before you’re...?" John had to squeeze his eyes shut in concentration.

"Three hours? Maybe four?" He confessed looking guilty, Sherlock narrowed his eyes at the expression shifted John gently in his lap so he could get a good look at the Omega.

"John, did you know your heat was going to start today?" He questioned suspiciously.

"Yes... No. Well I had an idea..." John mumbled, then jumped when Sherlock growled loudly and pulled him close.

"Why didn’t you tell me then? Is it not my job to care for you when you’re in heat? Is there another Alpha? Is it _Lestrade_?" Sherlock spat the DI’s name like it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever tasted and squeezed John hard against his chest. John was _his_ and no other bloody stinking Alpha was going to take him away, let alone someone as stupid as Lestrade. The man couldn’t even do his job without Sherlock so how was he supposed to provide for John? Lovely, gorgeous, sweet smelling John.

"No! I don’t want Lestrade, Sherlock, I want you. You’re my Alpha, just you, no one else." John soothed as he nuzzled his lovers neck, if there was one thing that surprised John, it was how aggressive Sherlock could be in regards to his ownership of John. He hadn’t expected a man who suppressed his Alpha instincts to be so, well, _Alpha_.

"Then why didn’t you tell me about your heat?" Sherlock huffed, loosening his hold on John. The Omega sighed in defeat and licked at Sherlock’s neck, he wanted Sherlock to be as relaxed as possible when he answered his question. The Alpha hummed in pleasure at his Omega’s attentions and returned the affection by nuzzling John’s soft hair. When John was satisfied that Sherlock was relaxed and pliant enough that he wouldn’t have another attack of aggression he stopped licking and nuzzled under Sherlock’s ear.

"I didn’t tell you because the cramps started after our fight last night and I was planning to go back to London this morning and deal with my heat back home." John confessed quietly against the saliva damp skin of the other man’s neck and once again Sherlock’s hold tightened around John.

"Is there an Alpha back in London?" Sherlock asked softly still too relaxed from his Omega’s closeness and the soft huffs of breath against his skin to sound demanding but was pleased when John shook his head against the detective’s neck.

"No, I was just going to go to Harry’s." Sherlock’s hold loosened again slightly but not enough for John to pull back completely, however there was enough leeway for him to lean back so he could slide a hand against Sherlock’s cheek and press his forehead against the Alpha’s. The look on Sherlock’s face was a cross between _frustration_ about not being told about John’s heat and _worry_ ; the second almost broke John’s heart.

"Sherlock, listen to me. Now that I have _you_ , there will _never_ be another Alpha for me; you’re the only Alpha I’ve ever wanted to belong to. I love you." John could hear the gulp Sherlock took to swallow the lump in his throat from the affectionate proclamation and leaned in to cover the small space between their lips to give Sherlock a sweet peck. Sherlock deepened the little kiss into something more substantial but kept up the slow affectionate aura of it and they sat there like that with John straddling Sherlock’s thighs in the front seat of a 4x4, under the cover of trees and darkness. Eventually, John pulled back with a wince as another bout of cramps, much more powerful than the last, hit him and Sherlock gently shifted John back over to the passenger’s seat.

"We need to get you back to the pub, back to our room so you can be somewhere warm and comfortable." Sherlock explained when John whined at the loss of his Alpha’s body, John whimpered again when Sherlock pulled back to sit properly in his seat and followed Sherlock over so he could rub his cheek on the man’s shoulder whilst the detective started the car and began the trip back to ‘ _The Cross Keys’_.

***

By the time Sherlock had pulled into the car park at the pub, John was shifting restlessly against his seat and tugging at his clothes, the Omega had already managed to shuck off his coat, jumper and had half unbuttoned his shirt before Sherlock could reach over to stop him from undressing further.

"John, stop." Sherlock growled, when the man tried to tug his hands away, John keened and flicked his eyes to Sherlock, looking suitably chastised and miserable. When John’s eyes locked with his he noticed the Doctor’s pupils were already dilated and this was worrying Sherlock, John had told him three to four hours until the beginning of his heat but the Omega’s pre-heat symptoms were happening too rapidly for that to be that case, he had to get John inside and now so he could find out what was happening.

Sherlock quickly jumped out of the car and jogged around to open the door on John’s side but the smaller man didn’t even notice Sherlock had left the car, he just continued to writhe against the upholstery and tug at his clothes. Sherlock frowned, concerned and reached in to slip his arms around John’s waist and beneath his knees before lifting the man up and out of the car bridal style, John’s whines immediately shifted to coos of pleasure once he was surrounded by warmth and secure in the Alpha’s arms even though tiny shivers still wracked his form from the painful spasms in his abdomen. Sherlock almost dropped him when John started kissing and nipping along his throat where his head was buried and the detective had to resist the urge bundle the Omega back into the car and breed him right here in the car park but he knew deep down that despite John’s advanced symptoms, his body still wasn’t ready for an Alpha so Sherlock resisted and used his hip to close the car door and walk quickly into the pub.

When Sherlock strode through ‘ _The Cross Keys’_ entrance all eyes in the room shot over to the Omega purring and shifting in his arms, several Alphas including _Fletcher_ stood and started prowling towards them but Sherlock bared his teeth in a violent, inhuman snarl to warn them off; the other Alphas simply snarled back. Billy and Gary who were stood behind the bar both shot around to help the two men; Gary marched forward and stood between Sherlock and the other Alphas growling lowly as if daring them to challenge his Alpha status in his own home whilst Billy made use of the distraction and steered Sherlock through the back way to the stairs and opened their room door when they got there.

Sherlock immediately moved towards the bed to lay John down, he thought he’d have another fight on his hands with detaching the needy Omega but John’s heat heightened senses drew him to his and Sherlock’s mixed scent still clinging to the bed sheets from that morning and he rolled over away from Sherlock to rub his face into the sheets. Sherlock didn’t know whether to be relived or disappointed about it.

"Gosh! His symptoms are moving at some ruddy speed ain’t they?" Billy exclaimed from the door, Sherlock looked over at him surprised that he was still here; well he had a great opportunity and like John says ‘ _Waste not. Want not_ ’.

"Do you know why that is?" Sherlock asked and Billy looked at him surprised.

"Well... it’s an awfully rare condition but when Omegas are in the last twenty-four hours of pre-heat we’re supposed to start preparations, y’know like eating plenty, stocking up on pain killers, finding a suitable place to bunk down for the day but most importantly; we have to remain relaxed. ‘Cause of our hormones going all over the place we need to avoid anything stressful or upsetting, else it can cause a rapid heat like he’s going through right now. Never experienced one myself but I’ve heard that it can be very uncomfortable, it looks like he can’t even talk right now ‘cause of it." Sherlock’s eyes snapped back to John who was still purring and cooing and twitching away on the bed and he realized that since he’d set John back in the passenger’s seat of the car, the man hadn’t said one word. Billy noticed Sherlock looking at John concerned and rushed to reassure the Alpha.

"He’ll be fine soon, he’s basically going through heat symptoms in fast forward but once he starts sweatin’ and his scent changes he’ll be over the worst and probably start talking, it’s just that he’s a bit... delirious right now what with his body changing so quickly in preparation for his Alpha." This relaxed Sherlock a bit but his eyes still never left John’s form rubbing itself against the bed sheets.

"Is there anything I can do for him to make it easier?" Billy smiled at that, clearly this man was a good Alpha.

"Well, those clothes’ll be irritating him so I’d recommend removing them and a nice hot bath will ease the cramps and muscle pain he’ll be going through. I can run one if you like whilst you deal with his clothes?" Sherlock gave the man a nod and moved back over John to guide the man gently onto his back; John gave a soft Omega growl at being pulled away from his snuffling mission but stopped when he saw Sherlock above him and reached for him instead. Sherlock smiled down at his mate and bent lower to kiss him softly, John purred and licked along the seam of Sherlock’s lips making the Alpha want nothing more than to deepen the kiss but he refrained and shifted his head to fit against John’s neck as he finished unbuttoning the Shirt John had started to remove in the car.

Whilst he concentrated on the task of removing John’s shirt the blonde seemed content to just nuzzle and snuffle at Sherlock’s hair, however as soon as Sherlock had worked John’s shirt off from his Shoulders to rest on the bed sheets he was startled by a loud moan of relief from John and pulled back to check on him. John’s head was tossed back and the man was panting in quick short breaths, Sherlock just stared until John’s hand started pawing at Sherlock’s, trying to get the detective to continue his task of undressing him.

"Okay, okay." Sherlock soothed and moved so he could unbuckle John’s belt and remove his jeans, by the time Billy had returned from the bathroom there was a pile of clothes on the floor by the bed and John was down to his white rimmed, red boxer briefs. The little ginger chef just nodded at Sherlock and gave him a thumbs up before making his way out of the room and back to his own mate. Once Sherlock was sure he was gone he removed the last item of John’s clothing and jumped up to lock the door, he gulped when he turned back to see a completely nude John undulating against the bed Sheets, half hard but not lubricating yet, Sherlock’s eyes shifted from the gorgeous sight to the bathroom and then back to John before he nodded and started removing his own clothes and dumping them to join John’s in the floor pile.

"John, I want you to wrap your arms around my neck ok?" Sherlock said when he bent over John to pick him up again, once John’s arms were securely around his neck, Sherlock slid his own hands around John’s thighs and stood back to hoist the man up and wrap his legs around his waist. John moaned at the skin on skin contact and began humping himself against Sherlock’s belly making the detectives eyes roll back as he walked them both into the bathroom. Sherlock managed to still John’s movements so he could lower them into the hot bath but once he was sat back in the water with John lying on his chest, the thrusting he had expected to continue never happened, instead John sighed at the soothing heat of the water and scent of his mate, snuggling into his Alpha’s chest, closing his eyes and going boneless in relief. Sherlock watched the display fascinated, was that really all it took to calm John’s restlessness?

Sherlock was tempted to analyse the situation further but quickly rejected the thought when John rubbed his cheek against his pectoral. Who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? _Especially_ one that had soothed John’s discomfort.

"John?" Sherlock whispered when he notice the Omega’s breathing had evened out but there was no reply so Sherlock just wrapped his arms tightly around John and rested his cheek against the soft blonde-grey hair on top of the smaller man’s head, closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

***

Sherlock hadn’t meant to doze off and yet he clearly had since the last time he checked the water was hot but was now luke-warm, bordering on cold. He wondered for a moment what had woken him but then his eyes flashed open and he glanced down to see John shivering against his chest, sweat darkening his hair and giving his supposedly dry skin a dewy look.

"John." Sherlock said firmly to the man, giving him a gentle shake.

"Sh’lok..." Was slurred back as the Doctor’s eyes opened to look up into his own and Sherlock huffed in relief that the man could speak again, even if he sounded drunk.

"Can you hold onto me so I can get us out of the bath?" He asked the man and John hummed an affirmative and gripped onto Sherlock as tightly as he could, which admittedly wasn’t very tight at all but it would suffice. Sherlock made sure his hold on John was firm and then slowly stood up to step over the rim of the bath and carry John back into the bedroom to lay him on the bed. Once he was certain that John was comfortable he pulled away to head back to the bathroom but was stopped when John’s hand snapped out to grab his wrist.

"Stay." The Omega purred, eyes half-lidded and Sherlock swallowed, he wanted to but he had to get them a towel to dry off and he had to do something, anything lest he accost John’s body before it was fully ready for him, he still had to wait for the scent change and lubricant to start forming.

"I’m just getting a towel then I’ll be back." Sherlock assured and tugged free of John’s grip making the man whine but Sherlock ignored him in favour of heading for that towel he promised, before he reached for the fluffy blue thing he reached over to pull the plug in the bath, knowing John would shout at him for leaving it where he in his right mind but when Sherlock stepped through the door back into the bedroom, three things happened.

The most beautiful, enticing, sweet, heady scent Sherlock has ever come across practically punched him in the face causing the towel in his hand to hit the floor, his eyes darkened to near black and his cock to rose ‘til it brushed his stomach with his knot forming at the base.

John gave a loud needy moan of Sherlock’s name when he caught sight of the Alpha and flipped so he was on his hands and knees, arse in the air and moving from side to side slowly as a thick glob of something clear and musky smelling slid out from John’s arse to run down his inner thigh heading for the bed sheets. It never made it.

Sherlock leaped across the room, landing on the bed behind John and dipped his head down catch it with his tongue near John’s knee and licked the slick line all the way back up to the source of delicious fluid. Sherlock’s tongue flicked quickly over John’s hole once and his head shot back in pleasure, John tasted like liquid gold. Sherlock’s eyes had rolled back and his eyelids were flickering as a deep guttural groan tore its way from his throat, John whined in response and shoved his arse back into Sherlock’s face catching the man’s chin and leaving behind a wet patch.

"Sherlock! Please! Fuck me, breed me and give me your knot!" John cried and any control over the Alpha instinct that Sherlock had was tossed out the window violently.

"MINE!" He snarled and drove his face between the cheeks of John’s arse to lick and suck and nip and the Omega’s dripping hole, growling in pleasure all the while and causing vibrations to travel through John’s entrance making him yell.

" _Yes_! Always been yours.... Always... Gouuhhh... please don’ sto’!" John panted shoving his arse rhythmically into Sherlock’s face as the Alpha ate him out. Sherlock’s hands shot out to grab John’s cheeks and spread them so his tongue could travel deeper into his little love but soon it wasn’t enough and he needed more so he brought his hand over into the mix and pressed two fingers into the loose opening up to the second knuckle so he could spread John wider and get _more_. John’s eyes widened and he screamed, his arm snapping around to grab Sherlock’s hair and press the man’s face against him hard whilst his tongue and fingers fucked him over and over again ‘til his arse was gushing and fluid was running in streams down his thighs and Sherlock’s chin.

John grunted when the pressure that had been building in his abdomen released itself and he came for the first time that night, come shooting from his cock and a gush of juices from his arse shot against Sherlock’s face, Soaking his lips and pouring down his chin to drip down his chest to the covers. Sherlock pulled back when John dropped face first to the bed twitching, he licked across his lips like a great big cat and crawled up over John, his leaking cock dragging a wet line along his spine, before flipping him over on to his back.

John looked up at the Alpha gazing down at him, pupils blown, face and chest flushed and John’s lubricant still dripping from his chin, he looked magnificent and after tonight John was going to belong to him. The Omega lifted his head to the side, presenting his neck in submission to the Alpha and Sherlock surged down to sink his teeth into the soft tan flesh, breaking the skin so John’s blood would run down to mix on the already come and lube soaked sheets before surging back up to kiss John hard.

John could taste himself on Sherlock, blood and his juices mixing to give a heady musky taste over Sherlock’s spicy one and his eyes rolled back into his head. He reached up and pulled hard on Sherlock’s hair to tilt his head to side deepening the kiss and causing all the blood, lube and saliva to run down their chins. As the kiss got more and more passionate John raised his other hand up and drew his nails down Sherlock’s chest so five deep bloody scratches formed all the way down the Alpha’s abdomen until he reached his pelvis where he gripped Sherlock’s cock, _hard_.

Sherlock had hissed as the nails tore over his skin and all but snarled when John grabbed him, he shoved John down hard to the bed in an effort to make him let go but John gave a growl of his own and held firm.

"I told you to _fuck me_ Sherlock, am I going to have to find another Alpha to do that or will you man up and give me your knot?!" John snarled into Sherlock’s growling face, the curly haired Alpha was practically frothing at the mouth by the end of John’s little speech and gave a terrifying roar, flipping John over to mount and thrust into him until his knot pressed against John’s spread pucker causing the Omega to scream in pleasure.

"I’m the only Alpha you’ll ever have again! Do you hear me John?! NO MORE ALPHAS!!!" Sherlock roared, thrusting in and of John rapidly, his knot pressing against John with every thrust but not quite penetrating him yet.

"Yes Sherlock.... anything you say, I’ll do anything just don’t stop!" John’s eyes where clenched shut at the pleasure he was experiencing but it wasn’t enough, he needed that knot, his heat demanded it. John waited until Sherlock drew back before thrusting back in and pushed hard so he could flip Sherlock on his back and ride him. Sherlock obviously wasn’t expecting John to do something so dominant like that so naturally it pissed the big Alpha off but just as he was about to snarl and push John off he caught sight of his cock disappearing into John’s arse over and over again and instead ended up grabbing John’s hips to help him along, thrusting upwards against every one of John’s downward thrusts. John’s head fell forward as he bounced up on down on the Alpha beneath him who was hitting his spot with every thrust at this point and Sherlock wished he could see John’s face but the man was facing away from him.

That was when Sherlock caught sight of the mirror across the room and saw his lovely little Omega looking back at him through the glass before a smirk took hold of his lips and John gave one more mighty push down against Sherlock’s upwards thrust so his knot popped inside and just like that John was coming and clenching hard around him. This was the moment that instinct took over completely and Sherlock shot up to sink his teeth into the back of John’s neck, finalizing their bond as his knot expanded and streams of release shot inside John’s body. John moaned at the feeling of being filled with Sherlock’s seed that seemed to be an unlimited source and he tried to pull forward into a more accommodating position but Sherlock’s teeth wouldn’t release John until the first wave of his orgasm had subsided. When that finally happened and Sherlock pulled back gently, John didn’t have the strength to do anything and they both ended up falling backwards onto the bed, still locked together.

After a moment of trying to get their breath back, Sherlock shifted them so they were on their sides and pushed one arm beneath John’s head as a makeshift pillow while the other slid over to stroke John’s stomach in a soothing gesture.

"Are you alright?" Sherlock asked tiredly, raising his head to look at John now he had retained his rational mind in a momentarily release from his violent instincts. John’s head lolled back lazily so he could look up at his new mate in awe.

"I hurt everywhere and my arse is full of your cock and come... I’m bloody fantastic!" John giggled like he was high and Sherlock joined in with him. Once their giggles had abated Sherlock dipped his head down to give John a through but gentle kiss which was returned just as enthusiastically.

"Is it always like that?" Sherlock whispered when they broke apart and John smiled sleepily.

"Nope but then you’re the first Alpha I’ve ever let go all Dom on me before." John confessed and Sherlock gave a pleased growl making John smile.

"Did you enjoy yourself then?" He asked when Sherlock twitched, another shot of come shooting form him into John.

" _Obviously_." Sherlock tried to drawl but it came out broken and breathy.

"How long will we be stuck like this?" He asked once the spasm had passed.

"Hm. depends on you; it could be twenty minutes or two hours." John shrugged and Sherlock nodded and dropped his head to nuzzle and lick at the two bites on John’s neck.

"I hope it’s the latter. I’d like for you to heal a bit before round two." John laughed at Sherlock’s concerned tone causing the Alpha to look up at him confused.

"The first round during a heat is always some form of violent, the rest will be a lot less violent and more desperate. Honestly Sherlock! I wouldn’t survive four days of _that._ " Sherlock’s eyebrows shot up.

"Four days?" He asked and John reached up to lick his cheek.

" _Oh Yeah_!" Sherlock smirked.

"I bloody _love you_ John." And then he dropped his head to snog the shit out of poor sleepy John. Sherlock got a feeling he was going to like this heat thing after all.


	12. Surprise John!

Grimpen for all its faults and off putting surroundings, like Baskerville and the prison, could be absolutely breath taking. Henry Knight had put it best; _bleak but beautiful_ the man said and he was right, the little village had a certain charm to it but the best thing about the little village had to be the unhindered view of the beauty that _is_ a sunrise and the sunset. In fact ‘ _The Cross Keys_ ’ used that as an attraction in their ads on the posters and website.

The guests _loved_ it... well most of them anyway.

Sherlock could have done without the blinding stream of sunlight that hit him square between the eyes, disturbing his much needed rest after four days of near non-stop shagging. The consulting detective groaned softly and squeezed his eyes tightly together as if that would somehow shut the sunlight off but all it did was cause little bursts of light to flash behind his eyelids to join in with the suns piercing yellow glow. Sherlock growled and gave up fighting it, opening his eyes and blinking rapidly ‘til they were used to the light and _why_ was there light in the first place anyway? Sherlock was sure the curtains were firmly closed the other night when he had claimed John.

He soon got his answer when his eyes focused on the destruction that littered the room and realization dawned when a memory from the past few days flashed brightly in his mind.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

_"Oh! Yes!" John cried whilst Sherlock pumped in and out of him with quick, hard thrusts, the Alpha who had John bent over the little table in front of the mercifully covered window replied with a pleased rumble and a bite to his Omega’s shoulder. John hadn’t even seen it coming when Sherlock grabbed him and knocked the little ornaments from the table before draping him across the oak surface and thrusting home. John had been too busy devouring the food that Billy had left outside of the door for them so he hadn’t saw the twitch of Sherlock’s nose or the darkening of his eyes, still he wasn’t complaining no matter how unexpected it was._

_"Mine...mine...mine..." Sherlock chanted over and over again and flattened himself across the blondes back, John purred in response and pushed back indicating he wanted more. The big curly haired Alpha nuzzled the bonding mark on the back of John’s neck then sank his teeth back into it whilst pumping his hips harder into John’s tight hole making the smaller man scream and shoot a load across the table top. At that same moment Sherlock’s knot was sucked in and began expanding, come shooting out of him in waves, filling John up and causing the detective to collapse with his full weight onto the Omega’s back._

_It wasn’t surprising that a sickening crack sounded through the air when one of the table legs snapped beneath their combined weight, John felt the world tilt diagonally right and he reached out to grab the curtains to keep their balance but he pulled too hard and ripped the curtain pole from the wall instead. Sherlock pushed his feet hard against the floor and pulled John back quickly just before the heavy pole and still attached curtains crashed down upon the table, snapping it in half. The two lovers never even noticed, too busy moaning at the pleasure of Sherlock being forced even deeper into John when the Alpha landed on his arse. Even after the wave of pleasure dissipated they still remained oblivious to the destruction in favour of John being inspected for any injuries by his overprotective Alpha._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sherlock let the memory fade reluctantly and trailed his eyes over the broken room. In addition to the damage near the window area, there was also the chest of drawers which had been tipped over and was cracked along the back and the mirror that had sat on the vanity table was smashed to pieces _because_ of the chest of drawers being tipped over. Not to mention the state of the carpet which was covered in various bodily fluids, even the bloody bed hadn’t survived because of Sherlock’s instincts guiding him to drag the mattress to the empty corner of the room and make a nest of pillows and blankets for John to rest on after he caught an odd, but not unpleasant, scent on the man.

_John..._

Sherlock abandoned his study of the room to turn over towards the pillow cushioned wall that John was snuggled against beneath heaps of blankets. The little Omega was battered, bruised and still bleeding sluggishly from some of the bites and scratches littering his body but he was smiling and purring gently in his sleep. Sherlock couldn’t hold back the little smile that bubbled to the surface and curled himself around John, nuzzling the soft tufts of hair that were stuck up in all directions, the movements disturbed the Omega and a little whine was voiced followed by two sleepy blue eyes opening to gaze up at Sherlock.

"Good Morning." Sherlock whispered and dipped his head to rub his nose with John’s; the smaller man smiled up at him and shifted his head so he could kiss his mate softly on the lips. Sherlock returned the kiss and not for the first time asked himself, _why_ had he rejected these urges initially?

Everything was _wonderful_ now!

Thanks to those urges Sherlock could do this sort of thing with John whenever he wanted, he could kiss and stroke and... _Love_ and no one would be able to stop him because John was _his_ now, _his_ scent was now twined around the other man’s meaning everyone, even a Beta, would know _exactly_ who John’s Alpha was. Sherlock had never been given a more perfect gift.

"Morning." John replied once they broke the kiss, Sherlock watched as John stretched, wincing at his sore muscles and the sting of barley healed bites and scratches being reopened from the movement.

"Do you want me to get some pain killers?" Sherlock asked but John frowned and shook his head, pushing Sherlock to lie on his back and then proceeding to drape himself across the other man.

"If you move I’ll bloody kill you, Alpha or not." The threat made Sherlock snort, it wasn’t very scary when John was too busy snuffling against his neck and pouting.

"Yes _Captain_." Sherlock got a nip to his collarbone for that making him yelp, his skin was still sensitive there from John gnawing at it throughout the heat. The Omega startled at the sound and his head shot up concerned, he blushed when he saw the state of Sherlock’s neck and the surrounding area.

"Sorry. Hold on, I’ve got stuff in my toiletries bag for that sort of thing." He said before clambering off the mattress and standing, Sherlock had tried to pull him back but he ached all over and it was too much effort, he sighed grumpily instead.

"Humph! So you can get something for my discomfort but I get threatened with homicide for offering to get you pain killers?"

"Yup! Now you’re getting the hang of this Alpha thing!" John grinned down at him and then looked over the disaster of a room.

"Jesus Sherlock! I’ve been in warzones tidier than this! How are we going to explain this to the owners?" John groaned at the thought of the bill for the damages and kneeled to pull his holdall from under the bed frame; it seemed to be the only clean, undamaged area of the whole room.

"Don’t be such a drama queen John, besides they must’ve know this was going to happen, after all, the ginger one helped me get you up here the other night whist you were... _incapacitated_." John stopped digging through his bag and turned to look towards Sherlock contemplatively.

"I wonder what set my heat off like that anyway. I haven’t had one like that since I’d just returned from Afghanistan and that was because I was having panic attacks. I wasn’t especially upset the other night... well I was angry about what happened but not distressed in any way so..."

"It was the hollow." Sherlock drawled. John’s eyes widened.

"But... _how_?" Sherlock rolled his eyes fondly at his mate.

"The drug in the fog, remember John? ‘ _Fear and Stimulus_ ’ that’s how it works and you were already in pre-heat so the drug must have interacted with your hormonal changes causing your adrenaline levels to rise and giving you a bout of unconscious distress that lead to a rapid heat. Simple." John pouted again, it wasn’t simple to him. Shrugging he went back to raking around for his toiletries bag; it had some salves and pain killers in it. He heard some shuffling behind him and saw Sherlock from his peripheral vision rearranging himself so he was sitting up with his back to the wall, sheets pooling at his waist exposing creamy skin that was littered with marks of all description, it was very distracting.

"Damn! I must’ve left my things in the bathroom." John cursed and went to retrieve them but he stopped in front of the door, Sherlock yawned and looked up at him curiously.

"What’s wrong John?" The man’s eyes stayed locked to the door.

"Sherlock, what are the chances of the bathroom being just as destroyed as this room?" John asked, dreading the answer.

"Mmm... 92.7% I think." John’s eyes closed at Sherlock’s sleepy drawl and he reached out a hand to open the door, only opening his eyes when he heard the door thump against the wall and...

"Oh.My.God! Sherlock!? _How_!?" Sherlock let out a deep, amused chuckle at the horrified look on his Omega’s face, John looked like he was going to have a seizure. There was water _everywhere_ , a crack ran along the side of the bath, a chunk of the sink was missing and the toilet seat had been ripped off and was in three separate pieces on the floor, not to mention the granite counter surrounding the sink had some... _stuff_ smeared across it. Thankfully the little leather bag sitting on the counter behind the taps appeared to be clean and untouched but John was still wary as he manoeuvred through the mess to grab it, he was just about to turn and bolt back to the safety of the mattress when something silver that had been hiding beneath the bag caught his eye.

" _Fuck_!" John shouted when he realized what it was, it was his packet of birth control! He hadn’t taken any since... oh God!

"John, what is it? Are you alright?" John jumped a foot in the air when Sherlock’s concerned tone came from right behind him; he spun around with both the bag and his almost untouched packet of birth control hiding behind his back.

"It’s nothing Sherlock." He squeaked; Sherlock narrowed his eyes at him.

" _Fine_ , we’ll do it my way. You’re skin has flushed a disconcerting colour of white telling me you have had a shock, Your eyes are darting and avoiding mine unconsciously which suggests that the shock is something that pertains to us both and you have reluctance to tell me, also there is a thin sheen of sweat dampening your skin indicating nervousness which is confirmed by the trembling in your left hand which I _know_ is trembling because of the foil packet clutched in your palm rattling against the counter top that you pressed yourself against as you turned to face me. Conclusion, you finally notice that you haven’t taken any birth control since we left London and that there is a high probability that you are pregnant. Which you are." Sherlock deduced in his usual quick fire way, by the end of his speech John was no longer avoiding his gaze but staring wide eyed and open mouthed at his Alpha.

"Well? Aren’t you going to tell me that was amazing?" Sherlock asked smirking, eyebrow raised, he was wholly unprepared for the punch to the face.

"Idiot! Are you trying to tell me that you _knew_ I hadn’t taken any birth control but you _still_ insisted on knotting me anyway?!" John screamed.

"I think you’ll find that you were the one insisting, quite enthusiastically I might add, that I knot you over and over again and yes, you would be quite correct, when I brought you in for your bath the other night I noticed that you hadn’t taken any more birth control since London and I knew there was a chance you’d be pregnant by the end of the heat which as I said, you are." Sherlock grumbled, rubbing his chin and glaring at John until the Omega collapsed, all the fight going out of his tired body. Sherlock caught him before he hit the floor and swung him up into his arms to carry him back to their mattress/nest, John’s face was eerily blank when Sherlock lay him down and Sherlock not for the first time felt fear in regards to his John’s feelings regarding him.

"Don’t you... don’t you want children John? Or is it because it’s _my_ child?" Sherlock asked quietly, vulnerable. He was sure he hadn’t misread John over the time he’d known the Omega, he’d seen him gaze longingly at little broods of families as they had torn through London on cases, he’d seen him play and laugh with Lestrade’s children when they were invited to the detective inspectors birthday party a few weeks ago, he’s seen him cradle a helpless infant in his arms who had been abandoned in a freezing house by a murder who had killed his mate and ran away to save himself but more importantly he’d see how happy John was when the child had accepted his comfort and affection, returning it with little gurgles and he’d seen how devastated he was when social services took the child away with them. He knew John wanted children; he loved children so it could only mean that the thought of having _Sherlock’s_ children was repugnant.

John snapped out of his daze when he sensed Sherlock’s unhappiness, he gazed at the man kneeling next to him, he looked like a deflated balloon and the look in his eyes was just... _heart breaking_. John had always wanted children, he had always seen himself in the future with three or four kids wrapped around him and to have Sherlock’s children would be a dream come true but to his knowledge and by Sherlock’s own admission he _hated_ children, _despised_ them as a matter of fact so John was sure that him being pregnant would put Sherlock off, maybe even make the man leave him despite the newness of their bond but now... John wasn’t sure he was right. Sherlock was acting like John would leave _him_ because of this and that was just unthinkable, there was obviously some sort of misunderstanding here and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Sherlock, I know you well enough to know that you know I want children more than anything and surely you have to know that if I _am_ pregnant with your child that I’ll be over the moon." John assured the Alpha who perked up when he heard this but gave John a confused look.

"If your fine with having my child then why are you so upset?" John glared at him.

"I’m upset because my meathead of a mate decided for us both that I was getting pregnant on our first heat together regardless if I want children or not!" John snapped, his temper flaring up again and now Sherlock was even more confused. How could the Omega be happy about being pregnant with Sherlock’s child and angry about being pregnant all at once? He didn’t think he’d ever understand the Omega mind or just John’s in general for that matter.

John could see the man didn’t understand and decided this was an argument for another day, there was a more important issue about this that they had to address.

"Sherlock... I’m also upset because I know that _you_ don’t want children." John slumped again, ignoring Sherlock’s shocked gaze.

"John, where did you get such a ridiculous idea?" Sherlock asked, tipping up John’s chin to look him in the eye, John frowned.

"You said so on that case we had with the Alpha who murdered his wife." Sherlock’s eyes widened, strange that they should both take reference form that case.

"I said no such thing."

"Yes you did, don’t you remember when you-"

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

_Sherlock gazed at John disgusted as the man babbled away to the female infant in his arms who was gurgling happily up at him. It really was sickening to watch, still as long as it kept that creature from making that god awful shrieking sound it had made when they’d arrived Sherlock supposed he could live with it. That didn’t mean he had to watch this though so he turned to look through the rest of the living room for anything he may have missed so far, not that it was likely. After five minutes his attention got pulled back to John when Donovan attempted to remove the child from his hold._

_"Look weirdo, just give me the kid!" The female Alpha growled at John and he narrowed his eyes and clutched the baby closer, protectively to his chest._

_"No. Bugger off! You’re upsetting her." John snarled back, Donovan’s growl got more aggressive and she shot her hands out to rip the child from John’s grip, her hands never even so much as touched a hair on John’s skin before Sherlock was between them and growling at Donovan, using his height to intimidate her._

_"Leave John and the child be." Donovan stepped back slightly, recognizing the stronger Alpha for what he was but she didn’t back down all the way and stepped back into Sherlock’s space, challenging him._

_"Why? What’re you gonna do_ freak _?" Sherlock was just about to lunge at her for her insolence but thankfully for her Lestrade called and that was one Alpha she couldn’t defy so she marched off, Sherlock glaring at her back all the way. When he completely lost sight of her, Sherlock turned back to John and gave him a once over._

_"Alright?" He drawled and John smiled at him, nodding and their eyes remained locked until a little yell came from between them, they both looked down to the baby whose arms were reaching for Sherlock, clearly demanding the man to hold her._

_"Looks like she wants to give you a cuddle to thank you for getting rid of Donovan. Do you want to hold her?" John smiled at him but Sherlock looked away._

_"No, I_ detest _children." John looked at him shocked and Sherlock marched off. The little baby in his arms gave John a confused look as if saying ‘_ Was it something I said? _’ and John stroked a finger down her cheek._

_"Don’t you worry gorgeous, he’s just a prat." John whispered and he got a gummy smile in return followed by some more gurgling._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sherlock listened to John re-tell the story and felt guilty for how he’d acted at the time.

"John, I didn’t say I didn’t want children I said I didn’t like them and by that I meant _other_ people’s children, I can guarantee you that I would never act so coldly to my own child." Despite his assurance, John was still looking at him warily.

"Look John this is the only time I’ll ever say this but... I know I’m not the nicest of people; in fact I’m well aware that I can be absolutely abhorrent. I’m reckless, irresponsible, lazy, I can be downright disgusting when I want to be, I’m not the most affectionate human being on the planet and yet somehow despite all of that you’ve managed to fall in love with me and I you. You’re absolutely right to be wary of me taking on a parental role because you’ve seen no evidence that I can be anything other than a failure at it but I want to make something quite clear. I _could_ never and _would_ never do anything to put our child in any danger, I will love and protect that child when they’re inside of you and I will do the same when they enter this world because that child will be _us_ , John. There will be a human being in the world with all my genius and your unyielding heart, a human being that will be a blend of the best of us both and that is more precious to me than any case, experiment or drug could ever be. Understand?"

Sherlock swallowed at the end of his speech, never having voiced so much emotion in his life, he was well aware that it was entirely out of character for him but he didn’t care, his relationship with John and their child was on the line here and he wouldn’t lose them because of something so trivial as a misunderstanding. He couldn’t bear to look at John throughout his speech though lest he lost his bottle so when John slid a hand across his cheek to guide his eyes back to his own Sherlock was shocked to see tear tracks painted across John’s face and the man sniffling.

"If I _am_ pregnant, you will make a wonderful father." John choked out and pulled Sherlock in for kiss that was wet and full of emotions neither man could put into words. They lay on the mattress, wrapped around each other until the emotion of the moment passed; Sherlock who was lying on top of John gingerly, lifted his head up to give the man a strange look.

"You said if you _are_ pregnant. Why? I’ve already told you that you are in fact carrying my child." Sherlock asked confused, John wasn’t usually this unobservant, the doctor scoffed at him at swatted him on the back of the head gently.

"We need to wait six weeks ‘til you smell a change in my scent and do a pregnancy test before you can say I’m pregnant." John admonished.

"But I already do smell a change in your scent." John’s eyes widened, there was no way Sherlock could detect something like that this early, then again Sherlock didn’t know much about bonds so maybe that’s just what he _thought_ he smelled, John chuckled.

"Sherlock what your smelling is the change in my scent now that yours is mixed with it, it’s a part of our bond." Sherlock rolled his eyes and slid down so he was face to face with John’s abdomen.

"No it isn’t, I _can_ smell that too but there is another scent beneath that one originating from here." Sherlock insisted as he sniffed and nuzzled John’s belly, John sat up on his elbows and looked down at Sherlock.

"Nope sorry, I don’t believe you. No normal Alpha would be able to smell that this early." John gritted out and Sherlock scoffed and nipped at the skin in front of him in admonishment.

"How dare you John, I’m far superior to any ‘ _Normal_ _Alpha’_ , I’m Sherlock Holmes and I notice everything. You’re pregnant John. I’m not lying and I wouldn’t tell you unless I was 100% positive that I had all the data." John swallowed and fell back, Sherlock was right, he wouldn’t have said anything unless he was sure.

"Oh God... I’m _pregnant_. _I_ am pregnant. I’m having a baby; a real live little person is growing inside me as I speak!" Sherlock crawled back up John’s body and smiled at his mate, John looked up at him and a grin spread across his face and a giddy laugh broke free from his body. He tackled Sherlock, knocking the Alpha onto his back and started pressing kisses all over his face and praising him in between.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you...! You... wonderful... sexy... gorgeous... genius of a man.... I’m having your baby!" Sherlock was just about to suggest another way that John could thank him when an embarrassing rumble sounded from the pregnant man’s belly making Sherlock’s protective instincts kicked in.

"Time for breakfast don’t you think? You haven’t eaten properly for days and you’re pregnant now so you’ll have to eat as soon as possible to ensure the child gets their nutrients to start growing." He ordered and John, too happy from the news that he was pregnant with Sherlock’s child and that Sherlock wanted the baby nodded in agreement and stood to get dressed. He winced though when he finally noticed how sticky he was and at the feeling of dried up come between his cheeks and then he remembered his reason for going in the bathroom in the first place was to get supplies to treat his and Sherlock’s wounds, he knew Sherlock’s inner Alpha wasn’t going to like him postponing breakfast but some things were necessary in life.

"Sherlock before we go downstairs I’d like to sort out these bites and scratches and have a shower, I feel bloody disgusting." Sherlock who had just got to his feet growled at John but conceded, he too needed a shower, he was certain there was come in the back of his hair. He was mollified somewhat when John grinned at him and gave him a kiss before he bounded off back to the destroyed bathroom followed by an unusually happy Sherlock and why shouldn’t he be happy?

He was bonded to the man he loved.

He was going to be a father.

And he had solved a twenty year old murder about an imaginary hound.

Life was good and it looked like it wasn’t going to be boring for a while either.

***

Washed, bandaged and dressed in some fresh clothes, Sherlock and John made their way downstairs where they were greeted by a smiling Gary.

"Ah! Here comes loves young dream. Glad to see you boys have surfaced alive and well." John blushed at the Scotsman but was smiling none the less.

"Um yes... about the room-" John started but was interrupted by Gary raising his hand.

"Trust me; we’ve had more heats here from guests than you’d believe so I have an idea of what state the room will be in." Gary assured him, it didn’t ease John’s guilt.

"We’re more than happy to pay for the damage." John said and Sherlock gave him a glare which was not unnoticed by Gary, the man just laughed.

"Don’t be silly, as long as you pay for the extra night’s I’ll be a happy man. My brother’ll fix up the room for free anyway and as I said this isn’t the first time this has happened. Now can I get you boys some breakfast?" He said clapping his hands together and rubbing them, grinning the whole time. John was going to protest not paying for the damages but Sherlock sensing his mate was going to make them poor for a while jumped in.

"Yes please, full English with extra bacon, a cup of tea, white, no sugar for John and a coffee for me, black, two sugars." Sherlock was about the stride out of the place when John jumped in again.

"And Sherlock will cover our expenses for the extra days. Is it ok for me to eat breakfast outside at the benches Gary?" Gary nodded still grinning; God didn’t the man’s face hurt?

"Aye! Billy’ll bring your meal out to you." He said and John scarpered out before Sherlock could somehow con him into paying for everything again. There were only two free benches left and John headed over to the one furthest away from the pub to wait for his meal, he didn’t have to wait long though, Billy came out after a few minutes with his plate and a glass of orange juice to place in front of the ravenous doctor.

"Mmm, thanks Billy." John said picking up his cutlery and Billy smiled at him before heading back inside just as Sherlock slid up beside him with two cups and presented John with one of them.

"So they didn’t have it put down then; the dog?" Sherlock asked John taking a drink of his coffee; John did an internal eye roll, back to the case then, still the reprieve was nice while it lasted.

"Obviously. Suppose they just couldn’t bring themselves to do it." John answered before tucking in to his breakfast and Sherlock nodded and made a face of false understanding.

"I see." John swallowed the mouthful he had and shook his head at his lover, smiling.

"No you don’t."

"No, I don’t. Sentiment?"

"Sentiment." John confirmed and Sherlock gave a forced groan and sat down beside him facing the pub. That was when something popped into John’s head.

"Listen; what happened to me at the lab?" John asked and Sherlock gave him an odd look before turning to grab a basket of sauces, trying to figure out a way how to explain that to his mate without it ending in him being neutered.

"Do you want sauce with that?" He tried to distract John but the man was too busy analysing the situation, he really wished he hadn’t showed him how to do that sometimes, still at least their child wouldn’t be able to pull a fast one on them when they grew up into natures nut kickers; _Teenagers_.

"I mean, I hadn’t been to the Hollow, so how come I heard those things in there? _Fear and stimulus_ , you said." Sherlock avoided eye contact in favour of rummaging through the sachets in the little basket.

"You must have been dosed with it elsewhere, when you went to the lab, maybe. You saw those pipes – pretty ancient, leaky as a sieve; and they were carrying the gas, so ... Um, ketchup, was it, or brown ...?" Sherlock asked, once again trying to distract John from further questioning but John was no idiot and something in Sherlock’s story just didn’t make sense.

"Hang on; you thought it was in the sugar." John said and Sherlock held his gaze, attempting a neutral expression and failing.

"You were _convinced_ it was in the sugar." John insisted and Sherlock couldn’t take the weight of his mate’s inquisitive stare and looked away before making a show of checking his watch.

"Better get going, actually. There’s a train that leaves in half an hour, so if you want ..." Sherlock trailed off and winced when he saw realization dawn on John’s face as the man slowly turned his head away.

"Oh God. It was you. _You_ locked me in that bloody lab." Sherlock caved and thought it would be best to tell the truth at this point.

"I _had_ to. It was an experiment." John’s eyes went wide with rage.

"An _experiment_?!" John cried furious and Sherlock shushed him whilst looking around at the other people who had glanced over at John’s exclamation.

"I was terrified, Sherlock. I was scared to death." John continued quieter but still furious, Sherlock wanted to hug him and nuzzle at his hair but he didn’t think his pregnant lover would appreciate that right now.

"It wasn’t easy watching it either." Sherlock mumbled and John lifted his knife threateningly towards him, Sherlock put his hands up in defence and continued to explain.

"I thought that the drug was in the sugar, so I put the sugar in your coffee and then I arranged everything with Major Barrymore. It was all _totally_ scientific, laboratory conditions – well, _literally._ " John still didn’t look pleased but he lowered the knife and took five deep breaths before returning his full attention back to his breakfast, if Sherlock were smart he’d know this was the point to quit but as John pointed out not long after they met; he was an idiot... so he kept going.

"Well, I knew what effect it had had on a superior mind, so I needed to try it on an average one." John looked up at him again, a low Omega growl rumbling in his chest and his knife hand twitched, Sherlock swallowed and backtracked... with dignity.

"You know what I mean." John once again went back to his food but a curious look Sherlock didn’t like came over his face as he took a bite, Sherlock ignored it in favour of taking another sip of his coffee.

"But it wasn’t _in_ the sugar." John said after swallowing, Sherlock knew what he was trying to and it wasn’t going to happen so he defended himself.

"No, well, I wasn’t to know you’d already been exposed to the gas."

"So you got it wrong." John pressed casually.

"No." John stopped eating again, his fingers gripping tightly at his knife and fork.

"Mmm. You were wrong. It wasn’t in the sugar. You got it _wrong_." John gritted out and Sherlock had a feeling that if he didn’t concede at least a little bit, he wouldn’t be able to indulge in his new found fondness for sex for a _long_ time.

"A bit. It won’t happen again." This seemed to mollify John but then a worried expression crossed his face and he gestured to his abdomen.

"Any long-term effects?" Sherlock smiled gently and rested his free hand on John’s tummy, stroking gently.

"None at all. You’ll be fine once you’ve excreted it. We all will." He assured and John gave him bedroom eyes when he replied.

"Think I might have taken care of that already." Sherlock snorted at John who went back to his food yet again and caught sight of Gary out the corner of his eye filling up another couples drinks. The man gave him a nervous glance when he caught Sherlock looking, the detective could see from the scuff marks on the inside of his left shoe that he’d been in to see the damage they’d done to their room. He bet the man was sorry he didn’t take up John’s offer of paying for the damages.

"Where’re you going?" John asked when Sherlock stood and put his cup on the table.

"Won’t be a minute. Gotta see a man about a dog." Sherlock told him before dipping to give John a kiss and a nuzzle on the cheek. He felt he owed it to the owner to at least let him know that the dog he had been caring for was dead; John nodded in understanding when Sherlock pulled back and continued eating.

John heard the ‘ _Ah no_!’ from behind him and had a moment of guilt for shooting the dog but it passed, he hadn’t been in his right mind with that drug in his system and his heat so close so John just finished his meal and drank his tea whilst he waited for Sherlock to come back; he didn’t notice Lestrade approaching but he definitely felt the slap across his Shoulder where a bite mark lived.

"Jesus Greg! Little more gentle next time, yeah?" John moaned, rubbing the sore area, Lestrade just smiled and sat across from him.

"Sorry mate! Sooo... bonded to Sherlock, what’s that like then?" Greg teased, John smirked.

"Same as living with him except now there’s orgasms and good God! What orgasms they are." John whistled and laughed when Lestrade went green, he decided that since he’s had a mostly lovely morning he’d spare the man any further teasing, providing Lestrade did the same of course.

"So what are you still hanging around here then?" John asked, changing the subject.

"Well for two reasons. 1) Mycroft was here, he had some people going through that Frankland blokes work and he wanted to *ahem* discuss some of what happened with me because you two were _busy_ and 2) I thought you two would appreciate a lift back to London rather than a train journey." John nodded and thanked the man; he really did _hate_ bloody train journeys.

"So ... _discuss_ things? Is that all you and Mycroft did because that love bite on your neck that wasn’t there four days ago had to come from somewhere." John ended in a singsong voice and watched with glee as the man blushed and cleared his throat.

"Too much time with Sherlock much? Do us a favour John and don’t tell him, you know what he’s like." Lestrade pleaded when he saw the other Alpha approaching.

"Too late! I already know and am in the process of deleting it vigorously, you and my brother doing half of what John and I were doing is enough to put me off eating for life." Sherlock drawled as he sat back down beside John, closer than he had before so Lestrade knew to keep his distance and he tossed an arm over John’s shoulder just for good measure. John rolled his eyes but leaned his head on Sherlock’s shoulder making the Alpha rumble out a pleased noise. Lestrade let out a groan both at Sherlock’s words and his possessive gestures.

"John, I know you two are mated now but is there any chance you could _not_ bring more Holmes’ into the world for a while? Two is quite enough for me at present, ta." Sherlock smirked and John blushed a bright red and looked away.

"What? Have I missed something?" Lestrade asked confused and Sherlock gave him a fake scandalized look.

"You mean John hasn’t told you?"

"Told me what?" Sherlock smirked again and gave Lestrade a positively evil look.

"He’s already carrying the next Holmes."

A few minutes later Sherlock was bent over the bench laughing himself sick whilst John was trying to wake up the poor unconscious DI who had fainted into the bush behind him.

Sherlock had the feeling he was going to absolutely love being a father... after all with entertainment like this; it was hard to think otherwise.


	13. Epilogue: The Bag under the Bed

*** _Six Weeks Later_ ***

　

"I still don’t see why we’re bothering with this-"

"Sherlock-"

"We already _know_ that you’re pregnant-"

" _Sherlock_ -"

"Furthermore this doctor is _clearly_ incompetent, we’ve been waiting here for these pointless test results longer than it takes Anderson to come up with a witty retort, in fact I’m still waiting for _that_ miracle to happen and-"

"SHERLOCK!" John roared, finally getting his mate’s attention and then blushed when he saw the other people in the waiting room give them an odd look. Sherlock huffed and pouted at John’s irritated shout of his name causing John to roll his eyes, he really hated it when Sherlock got all sulky, still at least the man was quiet now.

All Sherlock had done since they had left the flat was bitch about how unnecessary this test was, which technically _was_ true but John still needed to seek out another physician for his medical care throughout the pregnancy and _that_ , unfortunately for John’s sanity, always began with a pregnancy test, regardless of the fact they knew he was pregnant or not. Sherlock had told John to just see to his own care since he was, in fact, a Doctor himself and John remembered spending hours trying to explain to his lover that treating and prescribing for himself would be _illegal_ but Sherlock simply _refused_ to accept that.

To be honest it wasn’t even necessary for his Alpha to be here but Sherlock had insisted he go with John, proclaiming ‘ _It’s my child too, John_ ’ whilst he clutched John protectively and ushered them both inside the taxi. Once the cabbie started driving however, Sherlock abandoned his enthusiasm to accompany John and swapped it for a whole novels worth of bitching. By the time they had arrived at the surgery John suspected the _real_ reason Sherlock came was just to moan about the whole event and agitate his pregnant mate to breaking point, after all that seemed to be his favourite pass time when he was bored at present, but no, John knew deep down that wasn’t the case no matter how irritating the man was being.

Sherlock’s instincts hadn’t let him leave John’s side since they had come back from Devon so the poor consulting detective had been getting dragged all over the place for boring, tedious, _normal_ tasks that under pre-bond circumstances he would’ve balked at and that was clearly agitating him. Still despite the never ending bitching, Sherlock had been a surprisingly affectionate and loving mate both in the privacy of their own home and in public, Sherlock had even organized a surprise _wedding ceremony_ for them that took place on the very day they had arrived back in London.

The story was that just as they had pulled into a familiar street about twenty minutes form 221B Sherlock had instructed Lestrade, who had made good on his word of a lift in spite of the shock the poor man had back at Grimpen, to take them to a little registry office a few streets away from 221B, of course John hadn’t known about this since he was asleep and curled up against Sherlock’s side in the back of the DI’s car but apparently Sherlock had contacted Mycroft on the drive back up to inform him about his bonding with John, though he omitted the part about John being pregnant, and asked if his brother could arrange a small ceremony for them to make it _official_. It really was a wonderful surprise to wake up to; Mycroft had even provided them with a pair of beautiful wedding bands as a gift and stood in with a still twitchy Lestrade as witnesses to their union.

John had never been happier in his life and he loved Sherlock all the more for the gift of the heartfelt surprise, especially since he could later appreciate how hard that must’ve been for Sherlock to ask his brother for any sort of favour pertaining to his personal life. Mycroft hadn’t made it easy either, acting all high and mighty with his smug attitude and fancy umbrella regardless of the fact it was a special occasion. After all those smug looks and jibes about domesticity from Mycroft that had Sherlock nearly hitting the roof, John had made sure to show his _appreciation_ for Sherlock’s thoughtful gesture several times over and in many imaginative ways that night once back in the comfort of their flat.

John smirked as he thought about all the naughty things he and Sherlock had been up to since their wedding night and his fingers toyed with the platinum band that adorned his finger, it was decidedly more feminine than the slightly larger ring on Sherlock’s finger but John didn’t really care because the sight of that ring on Sherlock’s finger was both unbelievably reassuring and a _real_ turn on, plus John got a real kick out of calling Sherlock his husband.

Hmm... _Husband_.

John smiled at the title he a Sherlock both bore now, he had never hoped for one second that such a domestic picture could be painted of them but he was thankful for it every day he opened his eyes, wrapped up in Sherlock’s arms and remembered that yes... it _was_ real and no longer that forbidden dream he’d pushed to the back of his mind, John was so busy thinking about how much his life had changed that he lost track of time and was surprised when the receptionist came to call on him.

"Mr. Watson-Holmes?" John and Sherlock both looked up at the small, plump woman who stuck her head into the door of the waiting room.

"Dr. Tyler says you can head back in now, you’re test results are back." Sherlock made a frustrated noise and was about to resume his bitch-fit but kept his mouth shut when John shot him a look of warning when they stood to make their way back to examination room.

"Look all you have to do is keep quiet for five more minutes whilst he writes me a prescription and books me a scan date and then we can leave." John soothed and Sherlock nodded.

"Then we can go home and have sex on the couch?" Sherlock asked hopefully and John blushed, thanking every God in creation that the hallway was empty, this was one of the downsides to Sherlock’s newly discovered libido combined with his lack of social cues but still that addictive personality his mate had could also be very satisfying when the need arose... especially since the need arose quite often. John cleared his throat to chase away the filthy thoughts that were clouding his mind and braced himself from the massive blow back of bursting Sherlock’s bubble.

"There’s one other thing we have to do before we go home first, love." Sherlock leaned in close to John, eyes narrowed and a low growl vibrating in his chest.

"Which is?"

" _Well_ -

***

 _Shopping_.

If there was one thing on this planet that Sherlock hated above all else it was _shopping_ , Pre-bonding/marriage Sherlock would have just let John go on his merry way but now that they were bonded, married _and_ pregnant, Sherlock couldn’t _stand_ the thought of John leaving him for anything; it was hell just watching John go to the bathroom let alone take a cab journey across London to an unfamiliar surgery followed by God knows how long fiddling with a chip and pin machine in the supermarket.

Sherlock had been alarmed in the first week after their bonding at his desperate need to cling to John and he ended up consulting one of the many Alpha/Omega books John had forced upon him when they got home. He discovered that his need was a combination of the newness of the bond telling him to keep John close for a period of time until the bond settled which could be anything from three weeks to three months and the Alpha in him telling him to protect his mate and child from any and all dangers, the first was sure to dissipate soon but the later, well, that could be a while yet.

Of course there was now a new, third instinct in play today, the detective simply called it his ‘ _Sherlock_ _Instinct_ ’ and what his ‘ _Sherlock_ _Instinct_ ’ had been telling him since they left that morning for the doctors was _run_. Nothing overly complicated just _run_ , probably to Bart’s for some experimentation but Sherlock had resisted, persevered and forced himself to accompany John, after all it was only to an appointment to document the progress of their child’s growth and make future appointments for further documentation of said child’s progress... or so John had said before he dropped the bomb about their shopping trip.

"We need food Sherlock, I’m pregnant now, I can’t just live off of dim-sum and pasta at Angelo’s every couple of days like you do, I need a diet of healthy, regular meals. Trust me on this Sherlock, I’m a Doctor." John had smiled at him in the back of the cab as he told him this and Sherlock had reluctantly agreed, after all they had to go to the chemists anyway to collect John’s prescription, even so, that still didn’t stop him voicing his displeasure about the whole idea all the way to the shops.

Sherlock really was trying not to be so snippy with John because he knew he was upsetting and stressing out his beautiful little Omega but things like putting others needs first didn’t come naturally to Sherlock so once again the Alpha was struck by his ‘ _Sherlock_ _Instinct_ ’ as they walked up and down the aisles at ASDA. He was about to just sneak off and leave his husband to it having reached his limit but when he looked at John, he looked so happy, so content and so reassured that with Sherlock there to battle with the chip and pin machine he would be able to get the shopping done in peace for a change so the detective once again resisted the urge to phone Molly and tell her to prepare a body for a good whipping.

He could’ve leaped for joy as they left ASDA stocked up with enough Shopping to last a month and he was just about to flag down a cab so he could finally, _finally_ go home and shag John so much that he never thought about shopping again but before he could put down the bags in his right hand to do that, John dragged him into _another_ shop, but this shop wasn’t a normal shop... it was a _baby_ shop. Sherlock Watson-Holmes was now surrounded with baby grows, stuffed animals, cribs and this was just _too bloody much_. God knows he loved John and all of his instincts screamed at him to stay close and protect his pregnant mate but he couldn’t do _this_.

"John?" Sherlock called, panicking when he noticed his mate’s absence at his side, he breathed a sigh of relief when John’s head popped around a corner of rails filled with baby clothes.

"Over here. Hey Sherlock you have got to come and see this, it’s so cute." John grinned and then disappeared back around the corner before Sherlock could protest. Sherlock rolled his eyes and marched around to where John was to dump the bags of shopping on the floor before his mate, he opened his mouth to tell John he was leaving to go to Bart’s for a while but stopped when he saw what John held in his hands. It was a miniature version of the cream jumper John had, Sherlock _loathed_ that jumper and there was no way his child was being stuffed into such a god awful piece of fashion.

"No." Sherlock snapped and John tilted his head, confused at Sherlock’s sudden aggressiveness.

"Why not?"

"It’s _hideous_ , John." Sherlock said disgusted and immediately regretted it when he saw the sad look cross John’s face.

"Look John, there are plenty of other things in here for you to buy for our child... I’m sorry I snapped at you, I’m just not used to all this... _normality_." Sherlock soothed and pulled John against him, running his hands up and down the smaller man’s back, John sighed and nuzzled Sherlock’s scarf.

"No, no don’t apologize. I’ve went a bit mad today, I know you don’t like the Doctors or shopping let alone this kind of shopping. We can just go home now, besides it’s probably too early to buy anything like this and I need to get dinner on anyway." John smiled at him but it was more reserved and less bright than the other smiles Sherlock had gotten used to over the last six weeks and he felt so very guilty for taking such a simple pleasure away from his little love, John shouldn’t have to be so apologetic about this, this was exactly the sort of thing normal couples did, in fact Sherlock could see many couples in this shop right now cooing over the miniature clothes, toys, cribs and all the other baby things. It was just instinct for expecting Omegas to start providing for their child before birth, it was called _nesting_ and as far as Sherlock was concerned it was never too early to be prepared and he knew that John shared that feeling.

Sherlock looked closely at his lovely Omega, his lovely _pregnant_ Omega who was trying so very hard not to look at the tiny fluffy jumpers to their left and it made Sherlock smile, John clearly wanted to go on a little shopping spree in here despite his words to the contrary but Sherlock knew he couldn’t handle any more so he came up with a compromise, even if it would probably come back to bite him in the arse later.

"Okay fine, you can buy all the mini jumpers you like, in fact why don’t you just have a look around here for a bit and I’ll take the shopping home and ask Mrs. Hudson to put it away, we’ll just order something in tonight from Angelo’s so you can spend as much time as you want shopping in this... _charming_ place." Sherlock tried not to sound so agitated at the thought of being separated from John for what was most likely going to be several but John could see right through him and even though he gave Sherlock a concerned look, his eyes brightened immediately.

"Really? Are you sure? What about the..?" John made a gesture between them.

"Yes, I know but I will be fine John, now here take my card; something tells me this will be expensive." John couldn’t hold back his excitement when Sherlock pulled out his wallet and he took the card gratefully before launching himself onto Sherlock for a filthy snog making Sherlock moan and his eyes roll back in his head. They kissed for a good five minutes before John pulled back to reveal a small string of saliva connecting their lips, Sherlock just about popped one when John licked it up and whispered against his lips.

"Since you’ve been so very good to me today love, I’ll do that _thing_ you like tonight." Sherlock swallowed, he really liked the _thing_ , he’d have to try and be good more often if this was what he got in return. Sherlock nodded and John gave him one last kiss before bouncing off to get a shopping basket, Sherlock breathed for a moment and then proceeded to lift the bags at his feet and head for the door, his instincts were already screaming ‘ _Wrong!’_ at him and he cringed.

"So that’s what it feels like." Sherlock huffed a laugh at himself, just before he walked out the door he saw something blue from the corner of his eye and turned to look, Sherlock smiled when he realized what it was that had caught his eye and he just couldn’t resist picking it up, he was positive he had enough money in his wallet to buy this and still get a cab home so he weaved his way through the aisles, watching out for his husband so he wouldn’t see him, after all John wouldn’t let him live this down. He would play it cool and plant the item in one of the many bags John was sure to stumble in with later, his mate would just assume that he had bought it and wouldn’t suspect a thing. Genius!

Sherlock had a moment just before he paid for the little thing where he felt completely ridiculous doing such a boring task as buying baby things but then he looked down at the blue item in his hand and he smirked at the thought dancing through his head.

It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t resist, he thought as he left the shop to jump into a cab.

It was just so... _cute_.

***

Someone was in the flat.

Sherlock could smell it as he climbed the stairs, although they were clearly using some scent masking medication because he couldn’t quite pin point a proper scent, just something... _off_ about the smell of his home but that didn’t matter because someone was here and he was now very glad he had left John back at the baby store. Sherlock carefully placed the shopping bags down when he reached the top of the stairs before the closed living room door and then counted three beats before he slammed the door open and growled.

"Now, now little brother is that any way to treat you guests?" Mycroft drawled from the comfort of Sherlock’s chair, cup of tea in one hand, umbrella balanced like a cane in the other. Sherlock’s growl didn’t let up; it only got louder, a step away from him frothing at the mouth.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" Mycroft raised an eyebrow at him and took a small sip of tea before replying.

"I am here because somehow this morning I saw you and your charming husband get into a cab that managed to disappear through a number of streets that have eluded my observation. I was quite concerned for you so I popped ‘round to make sure you were both safe. Where is my lovely brother-in-law anyway Sherlock? Oh do stop snarling brother." Sherlock managed to contain himself and cleared his throat.

" _John_ is shopping." Sherlock gritted out, using John’s name pointedly and then turned to shout for Mrs. Hudson as he grabbed the shopping and headed for the kitchen, Mycroft raised an eyebrow at the bags and used his umbrella to gesture towards them.

"If John is shopping then what are those? Please tell me he hasn’t got you running back here whilst he has a leisurely walk through the high street?" Sherlock’s teeth were grinding so hard together you could hear it through in the living room or in the hallway as the case was when Mrs. Hudson came wandering in.

"Sherlock! You stop that, you’re going to ruin your teeth love, now what can I do for you?" The old lady mothered and Sherlock cleared his throat and gestured to the bags at his feet.

"Would you put these away?" He asked, Mrs. Hudson’s eyes narrowed.

"No I bloody won’t! I’ve told you before; I’m _not_ your house keeper." Sherlock just gave her a look and she threw her hands up and marched forward to dig through the first bag. All that could be heard as Sherlock walked through to what was now his and John’s bedroom was cupboards slamming and the fridge freezer opening and closing, with the occasional cry when something disgusting was discovered but Sherlock didn’t care. He had managed to sneak the little green bag with his guilty purchase from the baby store out from under both Mycroft’s and Mrs. Hudson’s noses, if he didn’t want John to know about it, then those two were a definite no-no.

Sherlock dropped the little bag on the bed followed by his coat and scarf whilst he looked around the room for a temporary hiding place but he clearly underestimated Mrs. Hudson’s unpacking skills though because she was finished in a quarter of the time he had suspected she would take and he panicked when he heard the old Alpha’s high heels approaching. Acting fast he tossed the little bag under the bed and marched out the door before she could barge in.

"Oh! Sherlock you nearly gave me a heart attack!" She gasped jumping back; Sherlock rolled his eyes at her and apologized quietly.

"It’s alright dearie, I just wanted to let you that all the shopping has been put away and that I _won’t_ be doing it again." Yes she will but Sherlock won’t tell her, he just hummed an affirmative and walked back through to the living room with her where Mycroft was still nursing a cup of tea.

"You can leave now." Sherlock growled but Mycroft just chuckled.

"Not until you answer my question about the shopping. You and John sneak out this morning, disappear off my radar and then you come marching in with bags of groceries minus one pretty little ex-army, Doctor. So Sherlock, _where_ has our charming Omega got off too whilst you are here completing domestic tasks in his absence?" Sherlock hated that smug, snarky, snippy bastard and he was about to shove that umbrella somewhere unpleasant and open it up but then an evil idea popped into his head, he smiled, a genuine full blown smile that had Mycroft tensing.

"As I explained dear brother, John is shopping. We’ve had some interesting news quite recently and John is buying supplies to prepare for our _news_." Mycroft’s eyes narrowed.

"Sherlock, I tire of these games, would you just tell me what is going on?" Mycroft gritted out and a crash came from the kitchen where Mrs. Hudson had retreated to, to make some tea.

"You mean you don’t know?!" She cried, horrified. Of course she knew about the baby, Sherlock and John had told her when they got back but swore her and Lestrade to secrecy.

"Know what?" Sherlock waited until Mycroft took another drink of tea before breaking the news.

"John’s pregnant." All that could be heard in the building was a dull thud of a rather pricey umbrella hitting the floor, Mrs. Hudson’s cries about her carpet being ruined by a stream of tea that had flew from Mycroft’s lips and the deep, rich sound of Sherlock’s laughter.

That had been better than Lestrade and way more satisfying.

***

John stumbled up the stairs to the flat, laden with bags of all shapes and sizes and if he was honest a bit guilty, he really hadn’t meant to spend that much money but... at least he wouldn’t be unprepared for when the baby arrived. John snorted at himself and just made it to the landing when all 6’2" of his lover came flying out of the living room and glomped him.

"Hey!" John gasped and dropped his bags with a thud but Sherlock was too busy sniffing around John’s neck and running his hands over his mate’s body to check for any injuries to acknowledge him, John smiled and wrapped his arms around Sherlock’s back, running his hands up and down to soothe him.

"Sherlock, I’m fine, promise." Sherlock pulled back gently to look at John and determine if he was being truthful but what he saw there must’ve satisfied him because he nodded at John however he still dropped to his knees and lifted John’s clothes out of the way so he could nose around his stomach. John’s eyes softened along with his smile as he carded a hand through Sherlock’s hair and let his mate nuzzle and sniff at his belly for as long as he needed, Sherlock did this multiple times a day now and it always made John feel warm inside.

Sherlock was going to be a wonderful father.

The Alpha nosed around for another couple of minutes before placing a kiss on the hot skin beneath his lips and rose to his feet, John raised an eyebrow in question.

"Finished?" Sherlock blushed, John giggled and they shared a kiss.

"You were gone a lot longer than expected." Sherlock mumbled.

"Yeah, sorry about that... I may have spent a bit more than you assumed as well, it came to-" John started guilty but stopped when Sherlock held up a hand.

"One; I don’t want to know how much and two; will you need any more baby things in the forcible?" John pouted at Sherlock and handed him back his card.

"No, not until we need nappies and baby food. Do you want to see what I got?" Sherlock looked horrified.

"No, I’m sure what you’ve bought is just fine, I can see them when they baby uses them." John shrugged; he wasn’t really expecting Sherlock to be enthusiastic about that.

"Just thought I’d ask. I’ll go put these bags in our room for now until the furniture is delivered and we can store them properly." Sherlock gave John a curious look.

"What furniture? Where are we going to put it all?" John rolled his eyes as he headed through the kitchen and called over his shoulder.

"Told you I spent more than you assumed and we’ll be converting my old room into the baby’s room."

"Who’s _WE_?" Sherlock asked and John snorted, ignoring him. When John pushed open the bedroom door he could’ve cried, he was a man who couldn’t stand mess thanks to his army days and Sherlock was the exact opposite if the scarf and coat lying on the floor by the bed was any kind of clue. It drove John extra bloody mad now that he was pregnant too but despite the constant reminders to his husband to pick up his shit it still always found its way to the bedroom floor, didn’t matter what it was Sherlock had in his hands, it all ended up dumped for John to pick up later. John suspected Sherlock was normally aiming for the bed but that was no comfort to him when he was picking up a soaking wet towel from Sherlock’s morning shower.

The tired Omega placed the bags of baby things in the closet by their bed and then proceeded to kneel down to pick up Sherlock’s mess, however when John moved Sherlock’s coat out of the way his eyes caught sight of a small green bag sticking out from beneath the bed... A bag from the baby shop? For a moment John thought he had dropped one but then snorted, this bag was way too small for any of the things he had bought today which could only mean... John’s eyes widened.

"No way!" He choked and then stuffed his hand into the bag to pull out what was inside and... He grinned like a kid at Christmas; it was a miniature version of Sherlock’s blue scarf. So whilst he got crap for showing Sherlock a jumper, his husband was off buying mini versions of his own wardrobe was he? All the same, it was bloody adorable.

"Hey Sherlock!" John cried, the grin never once leaving his face.

"What is-" Sherlock started when he strode into the bedroom but froze when he saw what John had clutched in his hand.

"I can explain." Sherlock squeaked and John burst out laughing and jumped up to wrap himself around Sherlock.

"You don’t have to, I think it’s lovely and our child will love it." Sherlock swallowed and blushed.

"You’re not going to have a dig about it." The Alpha asked nervously.

"Of course not, it’s not like you bought bags of stuff, just a little baby scarf and I love you for it. It’s cute." Sherlock’s body flopped a little bit in relief.

"Yes, well, I just thought that I should at least get one thing for the baby, it was only polite." Sherlock sniffed, John’s grin softened. If this was Sherlock’s way of contributing then he wasn’t going to make fun of him for that, this tiny scarf was the beginning of Sherlock proving just what a fantastic father he would be.

"Thank you from both of us then, _Daddy_." John replied and then gave Sherlock a gentle kiss, Sherlock kissed back but was clearly a little uncomfortable at his secret being found out by the one person he was trying to keep it from and of the endearment so he pulled back with the excuse of phoning Angelo’s to order their dinner.

"Ok love, you know what I like." John called as Sherlock practically ran from the bedroom; John glanced back down at the tiny blue scarf and could feel his eyes tearing up.

"Bloody hormones." He sniffed and folded the piece of blue cloth carefully and gently placed it back in its bag so it could join the others in the closet. John looked back at the closet door once more before heading out of the bedroom; he took that sign of that little scarf as a good omen that things were only going to get better from here on out for all three of them and he smiled in anticipation for what their future would hold

　

It was just a shame that a certain consulting criminal was busy planning something else for their future at that very moment, after all...

　

He owed Sherlock a fall...

The End

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well folks that’s the end of this story, I wanted to go out on a sweet moment before the very end and I hope I accomplished that ^^; and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I have had writing it. 
> 
> Thank you for all your support and I’ll see you in the sequel:
> 
> The Hardest Part is Always the Most Unexpected
> 
> -MsGeorgie xxxxxx


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